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On 2/5/07, Rex May <rmay@hidden.email> wrote:
You know, one way to do it would be with prefixes.
go parl zi ceqlizo. I talk to you about Ceqli. go temparl ceqlizo ze. I talk about Ceqli to/with you. go ployparl ceqlzo. I speak Ceqli. (I use-speak Ceqli)
That sounds pretty good. Esperanto does some derivation like this with prepositional prefixes, e.g. "paroli" speak and "priparoli" discuss, talk about; "alparoli" address, talk to; etc.
And I can't think of an appropriate prefix to make it into "say" where actual material in quotes is the direct object. Perhaps voice-say go vwaparl "fala" zi.
Hm, maybe. An idiomatic compound, surely, but that's better than having to learn an unrelated root IMO. Of course you could make the basic root mean either "say" or "talk" according to context; the presence of a quoted phrase, or an "about" prepositional phrase, makes it clear how it should be translated if a translation into a language that makes the say/talk distinction is wanted. Don't you have a conjunction or preposition that introduced quoted or mentioned words and phrases?
But I don't really like 'parl'. Maybe sey, spi, tal...
On phonological simplicity I would rank "sey" highest, then "tal", then "parl", then "spi". -- Jim Henry http://www.pobox.com/~jimhenry