讯息： 16
语言: English
Kirilo81 (显示个人资料) 2013年1月9日下午5:20:12
sudanglo:I don't see why you shouldn't say Ni iris al la veterinaro por dormigi la katon, or if you want something closer to 'put down' then kuŝigi.Although German has a similar expression (see the comment above), for me Ni iris al la veterinaro por dormigi la katon sounds weird, and kuŝigi is even worse. I don't know whether I could understand it without context or longer meditation.
Esperanto can do better, without idioms, although for a German the word eŭtanazii has some bad connotations, too (but that's not the fault of E-o).
sudanglo (显示个人资料) 2013年1月9日下午11:29:58
Ni iris al la veterinaro por dormigi la katon sounds weirdWell it certainly is ambiguous in the sense that it's not absolutely clear from the grammar who put the cat to sleep (did we do at the vet's, or did the vet do it).
But that's beside the point when considering whether dormigi will be understood in the appropriate context.
So, if we rephrase to, say, Ni devis peti la veterinaron dormigi la katon, is this still weird?
Since you have the same figure of speech in German, Kirilo, the meaning should be plain.
Esperanto becomes a rather tedious language if you must always be plonkingly explicit.
Edit: in case the word 'plonk' is unfamiliar to you, I furnish you with this example culled from the Net:
My research tells me that "plonking" may be defined as the art of making the utterly obvious stupefyingly clear!
Tempodivalse (显示个人资料) 2013年1月9日下午11:56:07
Ni iris al la veterinaro por dormigi la katon sounds weirdTo me it sounds a little odd as well, but I think that's because I am not accustomed to seeing euphemisms in Esperanto at all.
I think "malvivigi" or "forpasigi" are just as gentle-sounding while avoiding the somewhat non-literal, euphemistic taste of "dormigi". I agree that it doesn't need to be manifestly obvious who is performing the action.
Kirilo81 (显示个人资料) 2013年1月10日上午8:32:04
sudanglo:But that's beside the point when considering whether dormigi will be understood in the appropriate context.It sounds weird, because dormigi is something I would say regarding my son (in the sence of enlitigi), and both in German and in Polish (and perhaps in Russian) the euphemism is not the simple "put to sleep", but a derivation with a different prefix (and in German with a diminutive).
If I translated the sentence with dormigi literally into German ("Wir brachten unsere Katze zum Tierarzt, damit er sie zum Schlafen bringt" ) my compatriots (or samlingvanoj) would hardly understand it.
I'm not against metaphorical expressions (as a cognitive linguist I'm convinced they're a basic means of human thinking and speech), but this one for me is simply to odd and not understandable.
sudanglo (显示个人资料) 2013年1月10日下午12:14:46
The proof of the pudding is in the eating. So I shall ask an international audience in the Esperanto Forums whether this figure of speech seems immmediately intelligible. If not, then you win, Kirilo.
Kirilo81 (显示个人资料) 2013年1月10日下午1:43:35
sudanglo:The proof of the pudding is in the eating. So I shall ask an international audience in the Esperanto Forums whether this figure of speech seems immmediately intelligible. If not, then you win, Kirilo.It's not about winning, and I'm curious what people will say (I won't take part in the discussion).