Re: Some or any
| From: | Steg Belsky <draqonfayir@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Sunday, May 26, 2002, 14:52 |
|---|
On Sun, 26 May 2002 01:11:14 -0400 Muke Tever
<alrivera@...> writes:
> You're not supposed to trust X-English English-X dictionaries on
> stuff like
> this, but I have {quelque chose} for French, {chto-to} and
> {chto-nibud'} for Russian, and {io} for Esperanto.
> (Maybe this woefully inadequate scholarship will prompt others to
> contribute.)
> *Muke!
-
"something" in Hebrew is |mashehu|, which roughly translates literally as
"that which it is". Dan would know better, but i think i'd use another
smashed-together compound, |eizeshehu|, for "any"... |eizeshehu davar|
"whichever it is thing" for "anything"... but that could just be an
anglicism.
ObConlang, in Rokbeigalmki the word for "something/anything" is |tahao|
/tahaw/, from |tii| /taj/ "there is/are" and |hawa| /ha?wa/ "what".
Similarly, the words for "some/any-time", "some/any-place",
"some/any-one" are:
when = |tawa| /ta?wa/ ~ |tatao|
where = |pawa| /pa?wa/ ~ |tapao|
who = |zawa| /za?wa/ ~ |tazao|
Technically, |zawa| and |tazao|, unlike the English "who/someone", don't
imply an animate agent - they just refer to whoever or whatever is the
subject of the sentence. |hawa| and |tahao| are more general, and can
refer to subjects and objects, in addition to being used for "huh"? and
verbs.
-Stephen (Steg)
"white shirts have no personality." ~ AW
Replies