tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Apr 18 15:10:18 1996
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Nouns as Verbs
- From: Consulat General de Pologne <#[email protected]>
- Subject: Nouns as Verbs
- Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 18:09:37 EDT
"Mark E. Shoulson" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >> 2) "Don't behave like a fool!"
> >> Would: qoH yIDabe'. be O.K.(?)
>
> >ghobe'. {qoH yIDaQo'} yIlo'.
>
> Correct. You need "-Qo'".
reH Suvrup SuvwI''a'.
> >> 3) Is it possible to use nouns as verbs. I know there are few
> >> nouns that are also verbs, but there is a (small indeed) number
> >> of them which are not verbs.
>
> I doubt it. Is it meaningful to have such a thing? What would a verb
> "book" mean (and don't tell me to reserve; that's an English idiom)? Or
> "to heart" or "to history" or "to shuttlecraft"? There's no evidence of
> any generic verbalizing construction that I know of. There are ways to use
> the nouns, though...
> ~mark
In Sanskrit there is a whole class of verbs - class X (ten) ending with {-aya-}
which are almost exclisively denominativa (noun-originating) or causativa.
In Polish we have a similar facility of forming verbs of nouns with the
ending {-owa-}
I shall write you some examples in Polish and Sanskrit. Excuse me, but due to
the inefficiency of ASCII e-mail I will have to write the Polish/Sanskrit
diacritical marks *AFTER* the letters suposed to bear them.
Mostly they have the meaning: "to function as X", "to be X"
or causative "to make someone/something function as X" ("to use as X")
Sometimes they have the meaning "To behave like X" but mostly this meaning
is not sufficient to cover it.
P. matka (mother) - matkowac' [komus'] (to be a mother [to somebody]) - Dative
construction
P. ksie,ga (book) - ksie,gowac' [cos'] (to write in a book, to keep in a book
- to "book" - used mostly for "book-keeping" purposes; literally:
to cause to be [a part of a] book) a transitive verb or intransitive
(to write books, to keep books, to be a book-keeper) stative
(we use also: bukowac' = from the English idiomatic = to book a place in an
airplane etc.)
S. Indra ( god Indra) - Indra-yati (to behave like Indra, i.e. to bully)
P. pan (lord) - panowac' (to be a lord, to rule) stative or Dative const.
or Locative or Instrumental case construction.
P. kro'l (king) - kro'lowac' (to be a king, to reign) stative or Dative cons.
or Locative or Instrumental constr.
S. raja (king) - raja-yati (ditto) stative or ditto
S. sunu (son) - sunvayati (to make somebody to be a son; to adopt) trans.
P. syn (son) - synowic' (ditto) trans.
P. forma (a form) - formowac' [sie,] (to form, to be/become a form to/for
something) both transitive and [reflexive]/stative
P. patron (a patron) - patronowac' (to be a patron, not: to patronize) Dat.
S. pra-n.a (life) - pra-n.a-yati (to be alive) stative.
S. hasta (hand) - hastayate/ti (to function as a hand/to use as a hand -
said of elephant's trunk; to take with a hand) stative/transitive
P. pudl/o (box) - pudl/owac' (to close in a box; also: to put into jail) tr.
P. marny (adj. meager) - marnowac' [sie,] (to become meager, to cause to be
meager)trans./refl.
P. ofiara (offer) - ofiarowac' [sie,] (to be an offer, to make an offer)
P. bl/azen (a joker) - bl/aznowac' (to act as a joker; show off)
P. apostol/ (apostle) - apostol/owac' [komus'/czemus'] (to be an apostle, to be
an apostle [to/for somebody/some idea] stative and Dative constr.
P. szabla (sabre) - szablowac' (to use a sabre, to kill with a sabre)
some other constructions: some of them idiomatic, some not.
P. s'nieg (snow) - s'niez.yc' (to snow)
P. gl/owa (head) - gl/owic' sie, (to make use of one's head for thinking)
P. gl/o'wka (head, diminutive) - gl/o'wkowac' (ditto or physically, as in
soccer)
I can easily invent some unexistent Polish verbs of that kind which will
surely be understood:
e.g.
wo'dka (vodka) - wo'dkowac' [sie,] (to use vodka abundantly) stat./reflex.
stodol/a (a barn) - stodol/owac (to put into barn) tr.
but (shoe) - butowac' (function as a shoe) stative, or (use as shoes) trans.
kolejarz (railway-worker) - kolejarzowac' (to work as a railway-man)
sto'l/ (table) - stol/owac' (to serve as a table, also: to cause to use a
table, to feed)
czekolada - czekoladowac' (to fill with chocolate, to feed with chocolate
= to cause be in the form of chocolate/ to cause use ch.)
I think it's enough (maybe too much)
Of course I understand, that not all denominativa make sens. But surely
many of them do.
Taking TKD let me choose by hazard some of the nouns that could function
as verbs too:
bep: agony - to agonize
biQ: water - to water (to water a flower = to make use water; to water a ship
= to make take place on water; to water a log = to function as water =
= a river waters logs down = lets them float with water down; all
three meaning attested in Polish).
ghoch: destination - to serve as destination
yach: pet - to be a pet
neHmaH: neutral zone - to function as neutral zone
tay: ritual - to function as a ritual(stat.) /to make as a ritual (trans.)
veng: city - to function as a city/to use as a city/ to make use of a city only
(to stay all the time in a city).
Qapla'
macheq
=========================================================================
lasciate ogni speranza voi qu'entrate
=========================================================================