Re: Degrees of comparation

Otherly swift??  Well, he can't run as fast as the hare, but he can think
faster?  Or swim faster?  Or drives faster?  Interesting brainstretch.

Adam

So lift the cup of joy and take a big drink.
In spite of it all it's a beautiful world.
-------Suzanne Knutzen




>From: Sally Caves <scaves@...>
>Reply-To: Constructed Languages List <CONLANG@...>
>To: CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU
>Subject: Re: Degrees of comparation
>Date: Tue, 4 Sep 2001 22:29:18 -0400
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Adam Walker <dreamertwo@...>
>
> > >From: Sally Caves <scaves@...>
>
> > >ALTERATIVE:
> > >zef uor androfaiht
> > >         "a man 'differently' handsome.
> > >ta der uor androfaiht zef-li
> > >         "A man handsome in a different way from him."
> >
> > Wow, Sally, I really love this concept of "differently expressing the
>same
> > quality".  Why doesn't ENGLISH do cool things like that?
>
>Thank you!   I guess it's why we invent conlangs!
>Someone wrote to me, I've forgotten who, and said she was
>looking for a conlang that thought in tertiary instead of binary
>form.  Teonaht is still pretty binary (good, bad; strong, weak)
>and I was wondering how to address that.
>
>We have yes, no, maybe; good, bad, indifferent.  But with
>the alterative, you can say:  good, bad, otherly good, and
>otherly bad.  Male, female, otherly male, otherly female.
>Strong, weak, otherly strong, otherly weak.  I suppose it
>corresponds roughly to English "differently abled."  But
>this is such a concoction.  If I introduce "uor" into Teonaht's
>grammar, it could express a range of meaning right from the
>start.  It will probably mean some things with some adjectives,
>and other things with others.  I was thinking, what would
>swift, swifter, swiftest, and otherly swift--uor nimra--mean?
>Either one races and reaches the goal or one doesn't.  The
>tortoise is otherly swift than the hare!
>
>
> > This grammatical
> > feature could be used to great effect in poetry and Congressional floor
> > bickerings I would imagine.  And imagine the new ways it wouold provide
>for
> > hedging on an answer when you don't want to lie, but don't want to
>offend
> > someone either. . .  Fraught with possibilties.
>
>He's... otherly correct!
>
>Sal

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