Saturday, June 15, 2013

Detail #43: A couple of derivative affixes

An affix applicable to verbs of utterance, which in combination with verbs like say, ask, tell, etc form verbs meaning things along the lines of

  • [prefix]-say: to concur, to agree
  • [prefix]-ask: to agree with the notion that the asked question deserves an answer
  • [prefix]-tell: to concur with a story or longer utterance
  • [prefix]-sing: to sing harmony
  • [prefix]-laugh: to laugh with someone
Another affix would form a kind of opposing meaning:
  • [prefix]-say: to contradict
  • [prefix]-ask: to respond by a further question
  • [prefix]-tell: to assert that a whole narrative is a lie
  • [prefix]-sing: to sing the response part in a call-and-response structure
  • [prefix]-laugh: to laugh at someone
Further verbs of speech and discourse could have meanings that somewhat follow these patterns, but on occasion - as with the singing examples deviate a bit more from the pattern of the meanings.

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