Re: Non-polairty

Sai Emrys wrote:

> So in this case: non-duality / non-polarity / etc. Or another way to
> put it - analogy / continuous scales.
> The problem: there are too many words that reference what are actually
> (multi-dimensional?) (infinite?) spectra as if they were two (or more,
> but finite) points.
> E.g.: Good/bad. Old/young. Rich/poor. Etc.
We already had a thread about this last year (March 2004):

http://listserv.brown.edu/archives/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0403d&L=conlang&F=&S=&P=2455

> More, I would like to have some sort of grammatical and elegant way of
> having a *continuous* spectrum. I don't object to having reference
> points along the way (e.g. for color or temperature), just to having
> voids inbetween.
> Any suggestions?
Well, Shaquelingua has definitively evolved since last year so I'll try to
explain the shaquean concept of linearity in a different way.

Shaquelingua has a long scale of prefixes with 9 levels from one end to the
other end and a short scale with 3 levels when it comes to express opposites
but with much less detail. They are called "linear variators".

("ã" is a+macron, "ē" is e+macron, "õ" is o+macron.)

dõ  fõ  gē  xē <--| rã |--> çe  se  pi  kli
......da...... <--| () |--> ......ku.......


"rã" is the median point and "dõ" and "kli" are the extremes/superlatives.
"da" and "ku" gather all the prefixes of their side of the scale. The empty
prefix is used only in interrogative sentences. I don't say if "dõ" and
"kli" are negative/positive or less/more because, sometimes, there are but,
sometimes, they aren't.

The objective opposites like small/tall, cold/ward, short/long, etc are
always ordered the same way. "dõ" means extremely few of the units in which
these objectives values are measured and "kli" means extremly a lot. So "da"
is the negative side and "ku" is the positive one. The median point "rã"
either means "in between", or "unspecified", or else "whatever" or "more or
less".

Some examples of measurable concepts:

/dapjöki/ <--| /pjöki/     |--> /kupjöki/
cold      <--| temperature |--> warm

/dõpjõki/     <--| /rãpjõki/ |--> /klipjõki/
freezing cold <--| tepid     |--> burning hot

/datevei/ <--| /tevei/ |--> /kutevei/
short     <--| length  |--> long

/datsõj/ <--| /tsõj/ |--> /kutsõj/
young    <--| age    |--> old

/davizaj/  <--| /vizaj/  |-> /kuvizaj/
short time <--| duration |-> long time

The close-far concept goes also in this category. You can always measure a
distance.

Some examples of positive/negative or simply opposite concepts:

/dabisiu/ <--| /bisiu/ |--> /kubisiu/
ordinary  <--| ???     |--> strange/extraordinary

/daçērite/    <--| /çērite/ |--> /kuçērite/
expendable    <--| value    |--> precious
without value <--|          |--> valueable

/dafãdõy/ <--| < /fãdõy/ |--> /kufãdõy/
unreality <--| ???       |--> reality
lie       <--|           |--> truth

/davurif/ <--| /vurif/    |--> /kuvurif/
partial   <--| completion |--> total

/dazuthte/ <--| /zuthte/ |--> /kuzuthte/
narrow     <--| ???      |--> wide

The empty/full-ness fits in this category. In Shaquelingua you can't oppose
half empty with half full. You'd rather oppose /xētlēku/ with /çetlēku/.

Justice is also linear (from unfair to fair), so are agitated-calm,
sickness-health, etc.

I didn't include a bad-good linear concept because I dislike these two
words. They mean nothing... or rather too many things depending on context:
in-/correct, non-/conform to law/morale/ethic/expected behavior,
dis-/agreable, un-/pleasant, and so on.

Some more examples of con-culturally linear concepts:

/dabosir/  <--| < /bosir/ |--> /kubosir/
constraint <--| ???       |--> freedom

/dõçtai/ /xēçtai/ | /çtai/ | /çeçtai/ /kliçtai/
saucer   plate    | dish   | platter  tray

/datēefi/ <--| < /tēefi/ |--> /kutēefi/
spread    <--| group     |--> grouped
scattered <--|           |--> gathered

/dadãkadã/ <--| < /dãkadã/ |--> /kudãkadã/
pride      <--| ???        |--> modesty

/dazõrhgã/     <--| < /zõrhgã/ |--> /kuzõrhgã/
superficiality <--| intensity  |--> depth

There are a lot of such linear concepts in Shaquelingua, like hint-proof,
negligeable-important, exposed-protected, belief-certitude, and so on.

These linear variators also apply to the quantifiers (more than articles),
so indirectly to the pronouns. They can also be part of the conjugation...
Well, of the tense/modal marking in Shaquelingua.

dõxa = an absolutely tiny quantity of
gēxa = a small quantity of
rãxa = a medium quantity of
sexa = a large quantity of
klixa = an absolutely huge quantity of

kliska = absolutely none of the
--> kliski-çaki = absolutely none of us

klikaa = absolutely all of the
--> klikã-çaki = absolutely all of us

pre fare pjõki va teo kõrhça ?
= What is the temperature of the water?

pre           fare       pjõki       va  teo        kõrhça
INTERROGATIVE DESCRIPTOR temperature the INDICATIVE water

seteo'vaa.
= It is very warm.

seteo              vaa
LIN.VAR:INDICATIVE it

And to make things much more fun, the linear variators can also be prefixed
to non-linear concepts.

jo kli'saçrukuro !
= (This is) Definitively a conlang!

ji pi'kaçtõlu soe, [ji: pi:'ka.CdO4u so"e] (one very soon until)

--
==================
Remi Villatel
maxilys_@_tele2.fr
==================

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