Re: Jokers wild (was: Re: Some help with Latin)

New verbs in Spanish are specifically -ear, TTBOMK.

As for -ness, it's definitely still the usual suspect, although the
mainstreamification of the Internet - and some portion of geekish
subculture with it - has broadened the scope of two counter trends:
wordplay-based alternatives ('terifficity") and bare forms used as
nouns without modification ("full of awesome").  Cue another of those
"o tempora, o mores" rants you mentioned. ;)


On 9/26/07, Douglas Koller <laokou@...> wrote:
> From: "Mark J. Reed" <markjreed@...>
>
> > On 9/26/07, René Uittenbogaard <ruittenb@...> wrote:
>
> > > Do many languages have a "wildcard" verb? I was struck by the Swahili
> > > usage of _kupiga_ (to hit) in many idioms like e.g. _kupiga picha_ (to
> > > take a picture) and _kupiga simu_ (to call by phone).
>
> Chinese: da3 dian4hua4 (call on the phone, same expression)
> da3 pai2: play cards/mahjong (though if you've seen mahjong played, this is
> not a reach)
>
> > I don't know how many.  Perhaps japanese suru qualifies?
>
> I daresay. Back in "Douglas: The Japan Years," I remember reading an "o
> tempora, o mores" article somewhere about how the young people were
> overextending the use of this, coining such phrases as "kakumei suru" ("do
> revolution") and how to the author's elder, more delicate sensibilities,
> this did not work. Japanese may be the ur-example, since Chinese words get
> imported whole-hog as nouns and you need some way to verbalize them.
>
> I have heard it said that in the Southern US, one has one's picture made, as
> opposed to taken. Cannot verify.
>
> "do lunch"
> _____________________________
>
> From: ROGER MILLS <rfmilly@...>
>
> > Maybe Spanish _hacer_....
>
> > hace frio/calor 'it's cold/hot'
>
> > hace 3 años que vivo aqui 'I've lived here for 3 years'
>
> > 3 años hace... 'three years ago...'
>
> I understand this as "hace tres años."
>
> > hacer una foto 'take a picture' (IIRC)
>
> See above.
>
> The do/make verb, at least anecdotally, would seem to be the hands-down
> winner, which is not a big imaginative leap.
>
> faire un pique-nique
> einen Spaziergang machen
> göra Paris
> viccet csinál
> benkyoo suru
> make a decision (vs. "prendre une décision," though I *have* heard "take a
> decision" over-pond and even recently on this side in places on the TeeVee.)
>
> So, too, in Géarthnuns, where the verb is "dravnath." More often than not,
> this is used to avoid "ljfhaslufh" (I believe there's a word for these
> ("sing a song," and recently on the list "harp a harp"), but I don't
> remember what it is). To wit:
>
> The word for "play" is "íönsel"; the word for "game" is "íönsels." Hence,
> "to play a game" would be "sí íönselsít íönsel (the "ljfhaslufh")," which,
> though not necessarily ungrammatical (one can easily imagine a Géarthçins
> child uttering this), is stylistically a faux pas. So, primary and secondary
> school Géarthnuns teachers try to instill "sí íönselsít dravnath."
> Idiomatically, "chau teshersaut dravnath" ("do the cat") means "tinkering
> around the house," and "chö ngarebsöt dravnath" ("do the dog") means
> "relaxing about the house."
>
> But don't words usually have a catch-all, open class for new entries into
> the language?  New "quality" nouns in English take "-ness" ("connectedness")
> unless a ready parallel is available for "-dom," "-hood," "-ty" et al.
> (though you might hear (eg.)  "human-ness" as an emphatic contrast to
> "humanity."). Newly introduced verbs in the Romancelangs are "-er,", "-ar,"
> "-are" in French, Spanish, and Italian, respectively (readily parallel
> caveat applies). New verbs in the Germanic langs are weak. And so on.
>
> Kou
>

--
Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>