Re: demuan identifiers re-visited

> > This nene/nener distinction is rather vague, and there is no possible
> > distinction for lama/lamer. I think I will drop lama from teh vocabulary
> > entirely, which is a shame, as I am fond of that word.
>
>         Don't do this! It is normal that there be no distinction between
lama
> and lamer, as it seems that the meaning of lama gives no place to
> plural. So just make it an exception or, if you don't have exceptions,
> and don't want to have them, remove it from the quantifier subgroup. By
> the way, how do you use it normally? I can't understand why you put it
> into the quantifier subgroup.
Ok, you persuaded to explain my identifiers in long boring detail ;)

Incidentally, lama ended up in teh quantifier group by default, as it
certainly wasn't any of teh other items. It is kind of like bama, in that
teh essential meaning is 'all', but while bama refers to 'all the ones being
discussed', lama refers to 'all the ones in existance'.

bama kot - the entire cat
bamer kot - all of the cats
lama kot - all cats

I guess lama is intrinsically plural in meaning, but with a singular
morphology.

--- The Big List ---

Articles

[null]    indefinite singular ; a
xe        indef. plural ; some
ja        def. sing. ; the
yi        def. plur. ; the

The definite articles can be doubled for emphasis.

possessive pronouns

kinde/kender    my
linde/lender    thy
winde/wender    his ; her (NOT 'its')
skinde/skender  our
slinde/slender  your
xwinde/xwender  their
binde/bender    x-self's/x-selves'
subinde/subender each other's
zinde/zender    whose

'kinde' is equivalent to French mon/ma. 'kender' is equivalent to French
'mes'. There is no pronoun for inanimate possession.

demonstrative

ki/ker        this ; these
li/ler        that ; those
wi/wer        yonder
bi/ber        the aforementioned ...
zi/zer        what, which

quantifiers
bama          all of the X ; the entire X
bamer         every one of the Xs
nani          part of the X
naner         some of the Xs
mune          none of the X
muner         none of the Xs

lama          the general concept of X

lama is used in such sentences as "Do bears crap in the woods?" A partial
Demuan translation of that would be:

lama [bear] [crap] il lama [forest] ee?

If you used ja [forest] here, it would refer to a specific forest, and a
bare [forest], for indefinite singular, would refer to a single unspecified
forest. Methinks 'lama' really is in a class of its own.

---
Fabian
I know you understand what you thought I said,
But I'm not sure you understand that what you
thought I said is not what I meant to say.