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From: kichenas@s6.math.umn.edu (Satyanad Kichenassamy)
Subject: Re: Esperanto-English
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Date: Fri, 17 Mar 1995 20:53:56 GMT
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In article <3k9d80$1t0@nz12.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de> s_salomo@iraul1.ira.uka.de (Thierry Salomon) writes:
>
[...]
>What Esperanto proposes is :
>
>- no prononciation exceptions a letter (? character) is always spoken the 
>  same way.
>
>- a handy word formation system, for each root you learn you know
>  at least 20 new words.
>
>   Example :
>	root : parol-
>        paroli	to speak 	(-i = infinitive)
>	parolo 	uttered word 	(-o = noun)
>	parola 	oral		(-a = adjective)
>	parole	orally		(-e = adverb)
>	parolado speech		(-ad- =lasting action)
>	parolanto the one who is speaking (-ant = present participe)
> 	parolisto speaker (on TV for ex.) (-ist = profession) 
>
>	This enables you to know words you have never learnt before.
>
[...]
>
>				 		TS.


It appears from the above that the same radical covers the
semantic fields of `speak' and `utter.' Is that the case?
Does Esperanto distinguish between the verbs

to speak
to say
to tell
to talk
to utter?

I gather parol- is modeled specifically after French and
related languages.

Since there is no universal classification of semantic fields
which would be valid for all languages simultaneously, it
is unclear how to build a really universal language. Indeed,
the evolution of many words (such as spirit, mind, reason, ...)
is not independent of cultural factors.



                                Satyanad Kichenassamy
                                School of Mathematics
                                University of Minnesota
                                kichenas@math.umn.edu

