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Vreleksá
The Alurhsa Word for Constructed: Creativity in both scripts and languages
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StrangeMagic
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Joined: 18 Apr 2007
Posts: 493
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 Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 2:19 pm Post subject: |
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| Mmm, yeh. That wasn't the full list. |
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eldin raigmore
Joined: 03 May 2007
Posts: 548
Location: SouthEast Michigan
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| Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 10:27 pm Post subject: |
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| Aeetlrcreejl wrote: | | I found some important words missing, like "to exist" and "to become". |
"Be" and "become", with their current meanings, are definite innovations (less than 4000 years old) in Indo-European languages; that's why ancient Greek philosophers spent so much time talking about what they mean.
Words for "be" tend to be derived from words for things like "stand" and "sit".
Words for "become" tend to be derived from words for things like "turn" and "grow".
Nobody's language has to have words for "be" or "become".
It needs a way to say those ideas; but it doesn't need words for them. The ideas can be gotten across otherwise, via various phrases and/or clauses. Also, in different situations involving these ideas, one needn't use the same means for getting the idea across; there's no reason "be red" and "be Tom" and "be there" need to be connected; nor need "become a man" and "become angry" and "become dark" be connected. If they are, you have a topic for philosophy, and something to talk about while you're waiting around for the olive crop to come in to find out whether or not you'll starve next year. |
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eldin raigmore
Joined: 03 May 2007
Posts: 548
Location: SouthEast Michigan
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| Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:28 pm Post subject: |
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| David wrote: | Just a question, but what are the differences between 'to be (locative' and 'to be'? Thanks,
--David |
"To be there", as in "There it is!"; vs "to exist", as in "There is a ..."
Actually there are at least four different uses of "to be" (other than as an auxiliary).
Copula (Subject is Noun-Phrase)
Predicator (Subject is Adjective-Phrase)
Locator (Subject is Location)
Existence-marker (Subject is).
Most languages employ just one word for two or more of those, but each pair of them are distinguished in some natlang or other.
In most languages the words for those are verbs, but in some languages they are other parts-of-speech, and in some languages there aren't any words for some of them.
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Therefore love the child who holds your hand; and let your wife delight in your embrace; for this is the lot of mankind to enjoy:
But immortal life is not for men. |
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