Languages, words

[wispfox]

English has insufficient words. Even considering how many words there are (mostly synonyms), there are not enough.

For those who know Spanish:

Why are 'conocer' and 'saber' both 'to know' in English? Hello, _really_ different meanings! ('To be aquainted with someone' and 'to have knowledge about something/one')

Or... 'ser' and 'estar', being 'to be'? ('to be, on a permanent basis' - like, for example, 'I am myself', or 'to be, on a temporary basis' - like, 'I am well')

Or... 'picante' and 'caliente', as 'hot'? (spicy hot vs temperature hot - seriously, I tend to try to use 'picante' _all the time_. But not everyone knows Spanish)


Why do we say that we _are_ hungry, rather than (as in Spanish) we have hunger? (or cold, or hot, or sleepy, or thirsty, or...)

I _do_ use 'have' that way often enough, because that makes more sense in my head. If y'all ever wondered why my grammar is so strange, combine not thinking in words, and knowing two different languages, where my brain often tries to pick the grammar that is closest to how I think or the ideas came out of my head. :)

Comments

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

/me blinks.

My initial sentence was horribly confusing - I meant to say that I did not tend to talk about language differences (between languages) to those who don't know other languages, because it confuses them.

But anyway. Yes. Credit as due - even those who don't know other languages still might be interested in such. Bad me!

(mmm. Jokes.)

[bridgetester.livejournal.com]

My point was that even people who don't understand other languages can make interesting points about English. :) That's all.

Some of them are interested in other languages too, but most people interested in other languages would have learned another language already if they were seriously interested.

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

people who don't understand other languages can make interesting points about English

Oh, goodness, yes! No argument there. :)

Also - I'd been saying 'know' rather than 'understand', because I only understand English and Spanish, but I also have bits of Latin in my brain. :)

[bridgetester.livejournal.com]

Saber y Conocer y Comprender! Oh mi mente! :)