Re: Equatives?
From: | Sally Caves <scaves@...> |
Date: | Monday, March 10, 2003, 20:38 |
----- Original Message -----
From: "Aidan Grey" <grey@...>
> Sally cande:
> >Absolute: nemta laz (cloud white, i.e., a "white cloud.")
> >Equative: ta nemta hdo laz (like a cloud as white.)
> >Comparative: ta nemta maka laz (than a cloud more white)
> >Superlative: ta nemtan hse laz (of clouds most white)
> >Alterative: ta nemta uor laz (from cloud a different kind of white,
> > a different kind of white from that of a cloud.)
> >
> >Teonaht also has a "just the right amount" of something in the adverb
_no~_:
> > no~ mohsa, "just big enough," no~ aista, "work enough."
> >While it suggests equitability, it is not quite the equative. It's
> >something that's good enough for the task at hand.
>
> I like both the alterative and this no~particle - I'm gonna steal them.
> But could I get an example (or two) of the alterative in a sentence?
>
> Aidan
And I'm gonna steal your rosemary pepper!!
Okay, it's difficult, because "difference" is most often associated with
nominalizations, states of being, not adjectives. So:
Do:v lo ebra na ly, ma tadder uor lindaht ly, kare ry.
"He says she's stupid, but I think she's differently smart from him."
i.e., "I think she's smart in a different way from him."
Do:v lo ebra na ly
Dumb he says is she
ma tadder uor lindaht ly,
but from.him differently wise she (zero copula)
kare ry
think I.
"You think you're the most beautiful girl in town, but Issytra is
differently beautiful from you and all the rest."
It's an attempt to provide an alternative to the binary and/or monolithic
structures set up by comparison.
_Ta_ BTW is an all purpose prep. that means "for," or "with respect to," and
is used in these comparative structures. It also means "how" or "so," and
hence has quasi adverbial meaning: Ta androfaiht! "How beautiful!" _Rin_
could also be used, I suppose. Maybe in a different register or dialect.
_Rin_ actually makes more sense, as it is in more common use as a
preposition meaning "with respect to."
Sally Caves
scaves@frontiernet.net
Eskkoat ol ai sendran, rohsan nuehra celyil takrem bomai nakuo.
"My shadow follows me, putting strange, new roses into the world."
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