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Re: How to minimize "words" (was "Re: isolating conlangs")

From:Eric Christopherson <rakko@...>
Date:Sunday, February 25, 2007, 1:36
On Feb 23, 2007, at 3:12 PM, David J. Peterson wrote:

> Taking a look at the NSM... > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Semantic_Metalanguage > > ...I see it has a hearing bias, which I suppose can be forgiven ("say" > is primitive, but not "sign". Why shouldn't the primitive simply > be "express", and whether it's done in writing, with speech, or > with hands be a manner adverbial?).
To me, the semantics of {say} do not limit it to spoken words. An email, IM, or IRC message can say something, as can a letter or a billboard. I wonder if that's a dialect/idiolect difference, because I remember a few times when I said someone "said" something, without specifying that they "said" it via email, my interlocutor understood me to mean they actually *spoke* the words to me, and I had to then explain that it was via email.
> The primes "HAVE" and > "WANT" are also not uncomplicated, considering that the English > word "want" comes from a verb which meant "to lack" (and > which still can, in certain contexts), and that many languages > have separate notions of "having".
Heck, many languages don't have a word for "have". On Feb 23, 2007, at 8:41 PM, Eugene Oh wrote:
> At least three native Chinese speakers, I presume. As for the question > of say vs. express, I think it's because express is a more learned > concept in that 1) children learn say and its meaning first and 2) it > isn't a primary word--it's latinate for one, and is composed of a > prefix plus a primary verb.
Just because the English word is a learned borrowing from a language in which it is composed of a prefix plus a primary verb does not mean it isn't a basic concept.