tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Aug 27 16:49:19 1997
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Re: defective verbs
- From: Marian Schwartz <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: defective verbs
- Date: 27 Aug 97 19:47:46 EDT
ghItlh ~mark
>The meaning of the term "ungrammatical" is not necessarily cut and dry.
>Some linguists consider the sentence "Colorless green ideas sleep
>furiously" to be ungrammatical even though it breaks no rules you learn in
>grammar school, because it makes no sense: ideas can be neither green nor
>colorless (and certainly not both at once), nor can they sleep, nor do so
>furiously.
Here's something that (the late) Leo Rosten wrote in The Joys of Yiddish,
translated.
*riddle* wa'DIch vIQoypu'bogh mu'ja'pu' vavwI':
"no' DIrDaq HuS. SuD, yIQ, 'ej bom. nuq 'oH?"
pe'vIl jIQub, 'ach vIyajchoHbe' 'ej jIjjegh.
"bIQDepHom," jatlh vavwI'.
"bIQDepHom?" jIjatlhqa'. "no' DIrDaq HuSbe' bIQDepHom!"
"pa' yIlan."
"'ach SuDbe' bIQDepHom!" jImorgh.
"yIDIj."
"'ach yIQqu'be' bIQDepHom."
"'oH DIjlu'pu'chugh, yIQtaH."
"'a-" jIjach 'ej jIQeH'eghmoH- "bombe' bIQDepHom jay'!"
"bIlugh," jatlh vavwI'. mon. "vIQatlhmoHmeH neH qaja'pu'."