In Spanish, there is a definitive ‘to be’, Ser, and a transitive ‘to be’ Estar. it’s not, uh, perfect, and doesn’t avoid all of the traps of a single ‘to be’, but at least you’ll have a tool to help you navigate the New World after the Reconquitsa!
Since I don’t really totally understand English Primitive, could someone enlighten me as to how different ‘to be’ verbs either get you out of the definition mess, or lubricate you down firther slippery slopes? ( I already speak Spanish fairly well, it might be easier for me than to catch myself from saying “I am cold”.)
I was thinking before that it would be neat if folks interested in other languages could connect on here and practice with each other. It would certainly help if someone wants to visit non-english-speaking regions and engage in any re-wilding type experiences in those areas, as most of it begins with hooking up with the local people.
In any case if anyone wants to learn Levantine Arabic, I’d be happy to share what I know and would enjoy speaking the language more with others. I have just started teaching my sister some of my basic knowledge of the language as she is planning a trip to N. Africa in a month, so if anyone on here is interested, give me a shout.
E-Primitive gets you out of the noun-iness of civilized languages and into the more verby style of indigenous languages. It builds on E-Prime which addresses the equation mess.
As for the definition/equation mess: I use E-Prime as a tool to draw my awareness to the problem of equations and to try to channel my thoughts into the ever-changing-ness of the non-civilized world.
Learning different languages can do the same thing for you, but E-Prime and E-Primitive just focus the attention on the civilized aspects. You could actually try to Prime or Primitivize other languages.
Russian, for instance, tends to leave out the verb “to be”, but it still makes equations. Instead of saying “I am a student” you would just say “I student” (they also don’t have articles). Russian has a verb “to be”, but they use it so rarely that they generally forget how to conjugate it and just use the infinitive form whenever they want to stick it in a sentence for emphasis.
So, to say “I am a student”, you could say “I to be student” in Russian. You could also conjugate the verb properly and say “I am student” but people look at you funny when you do that like you think too highly of yourself.
I was thinking before that it would be neat if folks interested in other languages could connect on here and practice with each other. It would certainly help if someone wants to visit non-english-speaking regions and engage in any re-wilding type experiences in those areas, as most of it begins with hooking up with the local people.
Feel free to start some new threads in this board to focus on other languages.
I just noticed this the other day,
my sister was telling of some experience asking someone their name in espanol, como te llamas.
which does not translate to, what is your name, like we ask
but essentially, how do I call you.
como te llamas means “how do you call yourself”. I speak fluent spanish(i used to live in mexico) I would have to say that in spanish they use the verb to be way less than us. For instance it is not uncommon to say “que haces?” which means “what do you do” but translates to us as what ARE you doing. And it is not uncommon for someone to respond with something like “escribo” or “patino” or “leo un libro” which mean “I write” and “I skate” and “I read a book”. I like speaking in spanish much more, and it might have something to do with the verbiness. who knows?
