Re: [romconlang] -able

ObConlang Note: Things like this are genuinely interesting to
me, as vocabulary creation is one of my favorite parts of conlanging.
Since I lack a lot of knowledge on most things (just about every
hunter-gatherer culture is/was much more knowledgeable about
farming than I am, and had a much more sophisticated vocabulary
for it than I do!), I like to try to fill in the gaps where possible.

Peter wrote:
<<
I also distinguish between a spade (blade generally flat, used for
digging) and shovel (blade curved or flanged, used for..well,
shovelling). But I've notice the distinction is being lost over here
too, although shovel is losing ground to spade. I suppose the need
for shovels, and thus the word, disappeared when we stopped using
coal or building by hand.
 >>

Here's another question: I have a definition for "spade" that's a
very specific type of shovel-like tool.  Here are some examples:

<http://www.homegardenandpatio.com/curb/landscape_garden_spades.htm>

Notice that these differ from traditional shovels in that they
usually have a long, flat bill.  They're kind of used for precision
shoveling, as opposed to mass dirt-clearing shoveling (for
which they're not that good).  I.e., if you have a pile of dirt
you want to move, you use a shovel, not a spade.  Does this
distinction exist everywhere?

-David
*******************************************************************
"A male love inevivi i'ala'i oku i ue pokulu'ume o heki a."
"No eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn."

-Jim Morrison

http://dedalvs.free.fr/

Reply