Re: How to do "But/However"

On 3/14/06, Carsten Becker <carbeck@...> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Matahaniyà ang Angosii Arthaey:
> > Emaelivpeith taliesin:
> >> 1. How do your conlangs handle but/however?
In gzb the word for but/however is part of a set of "table-words"
that also includes "although", "therefore" and "because".

http://www.pobox.com/~jimhenry/gzb/grammar.htm#section12



> Harald Stoiber is not unright in saying what he said -- he
> generalized and theorized the use of 'but' --, but still my
> language instinct keeps telling me that 'but' implies an
> unexpected result. So when you say, "The apple is red but
> tasty", this means at least in *my* understanding that red
> apples aren't necessarily tasty. Is that Cognitive
> Linguistics what you're talking about, Harald? John Quijada
> wrote about this topic on the ZBB some time ago and the
> examples you gave seem similar to those of John to me.
I think the orginal poster was thinking mainly of the clausal
use of "but" rather than the use on single words as in Harald's
example.

I went to the store, but found it closed.

This implies (or implicates?) that I went to the store
partly because I expected it to be open, i.e. I wanted
to look around and probably buy something.  A burglar
who was intending to break when no one else
was present in might say with satisfaction

I went to the store and found it closed.

--
Jim Henry
http://www.pobox.com/~jimhenry