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Lesson 56: Comparisons, Part 3

The title of this lesson is a trifle misleading. This is not a lesson about comparisons, per se, but rather an advanced lesson on Degree Markers (that can be used in implicit comparisons).

The degree-markers we've seen up 'til now are all Neutral Degree Markers. They state a degree--without any judgment; they don't indicate an emotional response to that degree. There are also Degree Markers that convey, along with the degree, an emotional response (either "opposed to" or "in favor of"). There is a set that conveys a negative response ("opposed to") and another set that conveys a positive response ("in favor of").

Vocabulary

Neutral Degree Markers

We've seen these already. I'm presenting them here for the sake of completeness.


	-hel		to a trivial degree; slightly
	-hil		rather; somewhat
	-Ø		no lexicalized information about degree
	-hal		very
	-hul		extremely
	-háalish		extraordinarily

Negative Degree Markers


	-hele		troublesomely
	-hile		severely
	-hule		to an intolerable degree
	-shule		special emergency form: unbearable to a degree that would cause catastrophic events such as suicide; a signal for immediate help

Positive Degree Markers


	-théle		to a pleasing degree; fine
	-thíle		to a more-than-pleasing degree; excellent
	-thúul		to an extraordinarily pleasing degree; magnificent
	-thúle		to the furthest degree of pleasingness possible; perfect

Interrogative Degree Marker


	-haba		"to what degree"; "how VERB" {AB}

Examples

The following examples use one new piece of vocabulary: memazh (train) [me- (bigger, greater, more important) + mazh (car)].


	Báa ralóolo memazh?		Is the train fast?
	Bíi ralóolo memazh wa.		The train is fast (to an unspecified degree).
	Báa ralóolohaba memazh?		How fast is the train?
	Bíi ralóolohel memazh wa.		The train is slightly fast.
	Bíi ralóolohil memazh wa.		The train is rather fast.
	Bíi ralóolothéle memazh wa.		The train is fast to a fine degree.
	Bíi ralóolohele memazh wa.		The train is troublesomely fast.

Note that any Negative Degree Marker can be translated into English as being "too..." in some degree. So the last example above could also be translated as "The train is (a bit) too fast."


	Bíi ralóolohal memazh wa.		The train is very fast.
	Bíi ralóolohile memazh wa.		The train is severely (too) fast.
	Bíi ralóolothíle memazh wa.		The train is fast to an excellent degree.
	Bíi ralóolohul memazh wa.		The train is extremely fast.
	Bíi ralóolothúul memazh wa.		The train is magnificently fast.
	Bíi ralóoloháalish memazh wa.		The train is extraordinarily fast.
	Bíi ralóolothúle memazh wa.		The train is fast to a perfect degree.
	Bíi ralóolohule memazh wa.		The train is intolerably fast.
	Bíi ralóoloshule memazh wa.		The train is so fast, I'm going to have to do something rash if someone doesn't help!

This last example doesn't quite work; one wouldn't think its merely being fast ought to have so drastic an effect on the speaker--unless of course she finds herself riding this fast train and is phobic of speed or is decidedly unconvinced of the engineer's competence.

Exercises

Translate the following into English


1	Bíi aril shóo shun didenalethíle háasháaleya aril wáa.
2	Bíi eril shudehile onida letha wa; mehabelid lan wohíyahele woshodeha shin neda.
3	Bée loláad eduthahá zharatheshule bróo eril shebasheb áwith radóonewáan wáa.
4	Báa owahaba Adalatham wohan woHalishónaha? E owathéle e owahule be?
5	Bíi mezhedi yodá thalehal ana, íizh máananehel behé wáa.
6	Bíi eríli nédehul i dihul worawoth wohuhid mehel with lhebetho wohóyathúul wodéelath lhebedáahé wáa.
7	Bíi eril búhele dadem mudathu esheha nil wa.
8	Bíide eril shumáad áalaá íthinaleháalish, id shumáad be heb; medibithim háawith beth widahath rahíthinalehil be wa.
9	Bíi rahíyahele woliyen woháabe wi; báa shohile be íi?
10	Bíi eril redeb ewithá eríli mehel wíitham mewohéedahal wothodehóo menedebe hathóolethameya thobeboó erileháa wáa.

In #3, of course you recognize "radóon" (be incorrect; error) [ra- (non-) + dóon (be correct)].

In #5, did you have any trouble with "zhedi" (agree in speech) [zhe (same) + di (say)]? The English word "agree" could also be translated as "zhelith" (agree in thinking) [zhe (same) + lith (think)]. Some related words might be "zheláad" (consense) [zhe (same) + láad (perceive)] and "zheshub" (cooperate) [zhe (same) + shub (do)].

In #6, did you note "nédehul" (want, to an extreme degree; demand), and "dihul" (tell, to an extreme degree; by a ruler: decree). This type of formation can cover a great number of English words for which there are no direct Láadan equivalents in the dictionary. In like vein, do you remember "yemehel" (slightly sour; tart) from an earlier lesson?

Also in #6, of course you recognized "rawoth" (foolishness; be foolish) [ra- (non-) + woth (wisdom; be wise)].

In #7, did you note that Láadan is ambiguous (just as is the English translation) as to whether it's odd that the pig or the picture is in the boat? Can you craft a Láadan sentence that resolves this ambiguity? Try "Bíi eril búhele dadem ham muda esheha nileháa wa," (The picture of the pig that was in a boat was troublesomely odd) or "Bíi eril búhele ham dadem mudathuhé esheha nil wa," (It was troublesomely odd that there was a picture of a pig in the boat).

Of course you had no trouble, in #8, with "rahíthi" (be low) [ra- (non-) + íthi (be high/tall)].

Translate the following into Láadan


11	The cake is severely (too) sweet.
12	Aunt Margaret greatly enjoys needleworking.
13	My pillow is downy to an excellent degree, but it's slightly too firm.
14	The sky yesterday was perfectly blue and slightly fleecy-clouded.
15	Mary's beautiful sibling was extraordinarily tired; she needed to sleep.
16	Your cat is extremely well; she jumps magnificently and plays-very.
17	[didactically] Education is extraordinarily important for peace and harmony [obviously].
18	The dentist hurt me troublesomely, but I wasn't troublesomely afraid.
19	The nurse felt shame-beyond-what-she-could-live-with at the death of a baby; the baby's parents and grandparents all showed her compassion (despite negative circumstances), and they think she'll survive.
20	How sour are the berries?

In #12, you may have noticed we haven't got a verb "to enjoy." In Láadan we convey this meaning by saying, as in this example, "needleworking pleases Aunt Margaret to a fine degree." In the answer, "beth" (the pronoun carrying the Object suffix for the name "Mázhareth") is in parentheses because it's optional--it would be nonsense to say "Aunt Margaret greatly pleases needleworking."

In #18, did you have any difficulty with the verb "to hurt"? We don't have one, but we can say "cause to feel pain."

In #19, did you find a way to form the concept of "to survive"? Try "to continue to be alive."

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Answers


1	The ceremony will take place excellently bright-and-early (positive: early to an excellent degree) tomorrow morning.
2	My family was severely poor; we (many, beloved) lived in only two troublesomely small rooms.
3	[Warning] The physician feels such regret (cause, blame, no remedy) because a baby died due to an error that she's liable to [commit suicide/commit murder/etc., depending on where the blame lies].
4	How warm is August in Southern California? Is it warm to a fine degree or intolerably warm?
5	The diners agree-in-word that the food is very good, although it's slightly salty.
6	Long ago a foolish king demanded and decreed that his (he is despised) people build a magnificently beautiful garden as their duty to him.
7	The picture of a pig in a boat was troublesomely odd.
8	[Story] The butterfly flew extraordinarily high, and then she flew down; the children greeted her when she was rather low.
9	The green book is clearly troublesomely-large; is it also severely heavy?
10	An anthropologist found many very sacred writings made by priests three thousand years ago.

11	Bíi meénanehile thuzh wa.
12	Bíi shithéle dathim Berídan Mázhareth (beth) wa.
13	Bíi shanethíle thom letho, izh radazhehele be.
14	Bíi eril leyithúle i bolehel thosh sháal eril wáa.
15	Bíi eril óohaháalish woháya wohena Méri betha; them áana be wa.
16	Bíi tháahul rul netho; oóbethúul i elashehal be wa.
17	Bíidi otheháalish ehom shoneda i shada wi.
18	Bíi eril dóhúuyahele edashá leth, izh héeyahele ra le wa.
19	Bíi eril loláad onin lhohotheshule shebasheb áwithehéwáan; medam thul i hothul áwithetha méhénath bedi, i melith ben aril náwíi behé wáa.
20	Báa meyemehaba dalatham?

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