Re: How to do "But/However"

Hello dear conlangers,

On Sun, 12 Mar 2006 15:04:59 +0100, taliesin the storyteller <taliesin-
conlang@...> wrote:

>In all the Indo-European languages I've had a look at, "but/however" are
>standalone words. In logic/semantics, "but" is considered yet another
>"and". The difference in using "but" instead of "and" is that the "but"
>says that something else was expected than what actually happened.
>
>a) X and Y.
>b) X, expected Y but got Z.
>From my german background I disagree and find the description of "aber" (the
german equivalent of "but") more adequate which is given in the german
dictionary of Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm. There it is stated that "aber" (but
if I am not completely mistaken, the same goes for "but") signifies a
restricting statement to a clause which immediately follows that clause.
Thus, how about implementing your version of "but" as logical "and" with the
additional information that the set of potential referents (where I also
count situations as referents here) is reduced by the "but"-clause. So,
instead of implying unexpectedness, restriction of the previously uttered
meaning would be stated.

Looking at "The apple is red and tasty." vs. "The apple is red but tasty",
the statement is that being tasty is not included in being red. Thus, taking
all red apples as the set of referents, that set is reduced to those which
are tasty as well - with "but" giving us this information that a reduction
of referents has taken place.

Playing the same game with whole clauses, let's examine "It is boring and I
have to go" compared to "It is boring but I have to go.". While the first
would leave the possibility that having to go is included in the fact that
it is boring, the second version emphasizes that having to go does not imply
that one has to go. Having to go is explicitly marked as a separate fact
which cannot be deducted from the first fact that is given. Subjectively, of
course, one could call it unexpected. ;-)

So, what about converting a conjunction to an adverb meaning "contrariwise"
in the next sentence?

I hope that my thoughts are not too specific. :-)
Cheers,
Harald

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