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Re: fragments of a creole

From:Wesley Parish <wes.parish@...>
Date:Friday, September 17, 2004, 10:50
On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 15:35, Jeffrey Henning wrote:
> On Wed, 15 Sep 2004 20:48:35 +1200, Wesley Parish
<wes.parish@...> wrote:
> >karaeye > >kara = to loiter, -ai = continuative aspect, -ie = present tense > > How do you get "haunting" from "loitering"? Why can _karaeye_ take an > object? Why shouldn't one read _Hiyha verdabakh karaeye na'eva!_ as > "there's an evil spirit loitering [around] the city"?
Evil spirits/ghosts/unquiet spirits/demons/esses by definition don't "loiter", they "haunt". So in this instance, the semantics change, not the word itself. If it was merely a ratbag from the local pub down by the docks, it'd be "Hiyha ayato karaeye nanoire" - noire being the general word for boat, nanoire being the word for boat-place. And the meaning "haunt" wouldn't be there. "ayato" - pest; "aya-" in the first part of a word, is a derogatory word referring to vermin ("Hiyha aya!" - There are rats/cockroaches!), "-to" is a general male suffix. If the character in the story had believed the "evil spirit" haunting the city was "male", he would've referred to "verdato".
> > Inquiring minds want to know! > > - Jeffrey
-- Wesley Parish * * * Clinersterton beademung - in all of love. RIP James Blish * * * Mau e ki, "He aha te mea nui?" You ask, "What is the most important thing?" Maku e ki, "He tangata, he tangata, he tangata." I reply, "It is people, it is people, it is people."