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Re: Different words for one thing

From:Irina Rempt-Drijfhout <ira@...>
Date:Monday, October 18, 1999, 14:55
On Sat, 16 Oct 1999, FFlores wrote:

> The issue is: different names for the same thing when > it's not quite the same. Do any of your conlangs or natlangs > do this?
In Valdyan, it's usually a question of using the singular and the dual, or the singular and the collective plural: dayen - the element water, water as a liquid idain - water in nature, a body of water crys - snow crysin - falling snow (the plural of _crysen_ "snowflake", literally "snow thing") dach - stomach, belly idach - guts, innards gul - bottom, lowest part of the inside of something gulsen - the actual physical bottom This last one is tricky: the meanings don't seem to be that different, but _gulsen_ is only used when you're talking of the actual surface down there, not the place where it is. For instance, when a bucket goes down a well, it is _gulie_ (at the bottom, all the way down) and when a person climbs into the (hopefully dry) well to retrieve a lost necklace he is _gulsien_. Irina Varsinen an laynynay, saraz no arlet rastynay. irina@rempt.xs4all.nl (myself) http://www.xs4all.nl/~bsarempt/irina/index.html (English) http://www.xs4all.nl/~bsarempt/irina/backpage.html (Nederlands)