Simon Davies | Re: Vocabulary and ambiguity

• Autor: Simon Davies (“simon.franova”)
• Tema: Re: Vocabulary and ambiguity
• Data: 2012-05-08 11:57
• Mesaje: 3574 (a supra, presedente, seguente)

> vole/vola: does volor mean a "pilot" or a "wisher"?

It's either. The dictionary says it's a pilot, but we also
have "bonvolor" derived from "vole". That's not a problem.

> fama/fame: does fami mean to "go hungry" or to "get famous (vi)"?

The former. The latter would be "famosi" (or, better,
"deveni famosa"). At a stretch, "fami" could perhaps mean
"to apply fame to" (vt), but it would be much less puzzling
to say "fa alga cosa deveni famosa".

> proba: does probable mean "probable, likely" or "testable"?

Good question! Also, does "probable" mean "testable" or
"tastable"?

> Do you consider this a problem? Or am I missing something?

It's only a problem in theory. In practice, the fact that
"probable" is a very common root meaning "probable, likely"
is a sufficient deterrent against deriving "proba + -able"
to mean "testable". To talk about "untestable theories", it
would be clearer to say "teorias nonconfirmable" or "teorias
cual on no pote proba".

If LFN didn't contain this feature, I wouldn't have been
able to translate the puns in Alice in Wonderland into it!

Simon