atw: Re: The Rule of Un Verbs: Encumbering, Covering or Attaching words

I'm sure many a good deed has been undone!


On Sun, Apr 26, 2009 at 3:59 PM, Peter Martin <peterm_5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:

> Following up on some of Pullum's writing, I was interested to come across a
> rule I hadn't heard of, although it's one we seem to learn by absorption
> ....   What a strange language we have....
>
>  From one of his talks in Lingua Franca...  on the ABC..   He is citing
> work by Benjamin Lee Whorf, an amateur linguist
>
> > There is a class of operations involving encumberment or concealment
> through surface
> > attachment, and only the verbs that refer to operations of that sort take
> the reversing
> > un prefix.
> > Binding, tying, or chaining involve attaching basically one-dimensional
> stuff to the
> > surface of an object so that it is encumbered and partially covered.
> > Tangling is doing that to a one-dimensional object using parts of itself.
> > Covering, veiling, wrapping, and dressing involve putting basically
> two-dimensional
> > stuff over the surface of a three-dimensional object so that it is hidden
> and to some
> > degree encumbered.
> > Folding is doing that to a two-dimensional object using parts of itself.
> > Burdening, loading, and stacking involve putting objects on each other's
> upper surfaces
> > so that the upper ones cover and encumber the lower ones.
> > Clogging is encumbering something such as a gutter or drain by attaching
> or loading
> > things into it to stop water running down it.
> > So the verbs we get from reversing un are: unbind, untie, unchain,
> untangle; uncover,
> > unveil, undress, unfold; unburden, unload, unstack, unclog, and that's
> about it.
> >
> > Interestingly, we find undo, but only when the rather vague action verb
> do stands for
> > something of the encumbering, covering, or attaching sort: you can undo
> your shoelaces,
> > but you can't undo your homework; you can undo a parcel, but you can't
> undo a good deed.
>
> Some verbs (most) can't used with the "un" prefix.
>
> Of course, this +doesn't+ suggest that no verbs can be.  That much is
> pretty obvious.
>
> (Oops! Was that one of the new flame categories?)
>
>
>
>
> -PeterM
> peterm_5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> The wise man learns more from his enemies than a fool does from his
> friends. - Chinese Proverb
> (And that's a truly random "fortune" selection.. )
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