Re: My Digression from Boreanesia

On Wed, 22 Mar 2000, Adrian Morgan wrote:

> Kristian Jensen wrote:
> >    /  event1   / /GEN/ /GEN/ /diminutive/ /event10/
> >    <stomp> <eat> < 1 > <
> > lizard           >
> >
> > 'My stomping and eating event (which I did
> > instantly) of the little lizard (which is,
> > otherwise, always a lizard)'
>
> An immortal lizard? Shouldn't this be event8?
> Or less, if lizards don't live as long as
> homonids (almost certain...)
I think it's because the life of the lizard is outside the perception
of the person, unless the person ends the lizard's life by stomping
on it. He didn't see it beginning, and wouldn't have seen it ending
if he hadn't ended it himself.

> Also, in your examples, "lizard" had an event
> number but "nut" didn't. The lifetime of a nut
> would be one season, yes?
Perhaps they don't see nuts as alive; they don't move by themselves.
Most languages that I know of that have animate/inanimate distinction
don't mark fruit (or indeed any food once it's ready for eating) as
animate.

> To distinguish between very-long-lasting and
> permanent events, you'd be relying on cultural
> memory to tell you if the object had ever been
> different. Again, this is not impossible. And
> what about astronomy? Is it the same sun every
> time (permanent) or a different one each day?
> Is it a different moon each month, or always
> the same one?
Ah, that's a nice philosophical question :-)

   Irina

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