From jjllambias@hotmail.com Sat Oct 21 08:45:37 2000 Return-Path: X-Sender: jjllambias@hotmail.com X-Apparently-To: lojban@onelist.com Received: (EGP: mail-6_1_0); 21 Oct 2000 15:45:35 -0000 Received: (qmail 21995 invoked from network); 21 Oct 2000 15:45:35 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.142) by m4.onelist.org with QMQP; 21 Oct 2000 15:45:35 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO hotmail.com) (216.33.240.165) by mta3 with SMTP; 21 Oct 2000 15:45:35 -0000 Received: from mail pickup service by hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC; Sat, 21 Oct 2000 08:45:35 -0700 Received: from 200.42.117.39 by lw8fd.law8.hotmail.msn.com with HTTP; Sat, 21 Oct 2000 15:45:34 GMT X-Originating-IP: [200.42.117.39] To: lojban@egroups.com Subject: Re: [lojban] RE:literalism Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2000 15:45:34 GMT Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Message-ID: X-OriginalArrivalTime: 21 Oct 2000 15:45:35.0192 (UTC) FILETIME=[F3AF0580:01C03B75] From: "Jorge Llambias" la lojbab cusku di'e >Nope. I used English "mal-" prefix as the English input, as in malformed >and malaprop. It is an prefix indicating negative rather than >opposite. But why such an odd choice for English? None of the English mal- words would go into Lojban as {mabla}, would they? What was the Loglan equivalent? >Actually, I think someone >pointed it out to me, that some languages use "mal" for opposite and others >use it for bad. Other than Esperanto, is there any language that uses it for opposite? I always thought it came from a few French words like "maladroit" which is opposite of "adroit", but the meaning of the suffix is not opposite. >But since I did not and do not know much about Esperanto, I don't have a >clear idea how much that prefix is used - only that it gets criticized a >lot by Esperanto opponents. It is used a lot and yes, it is one of the favourite criticisms against Esperanto. >I like word patterns based on prefixes and >suffixes when that is the way they work in natlangs. Derogatives and most >other alterations to a basic meaning are usually expressed with a prefix on >the root, comparatives with a suffix. "Usually" as in "in English", right? Because in Spanish it is precisely the other way around, derogatives are formed with suffixes and comparatives with a preposed particle. And in any case, English does not really have any prefix for derogatives that I know of. It usually has a separate word. For example, for Spanish "casa", "casucha", English has "house", "hovel". There's no "mal-house" or anything of that sort. co'o mi'e xorxes _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.