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Make New Old Friends

by jkph00, May 15, 2017

Messages: 20

Language: English

jkph00 (User's profile) May 15, 2017, 5:33:06 PM

How might I say, "It is difficult to make new old friends?" Perhaps Estas malfacile amikiĝigi novajn malnovajn amikojn?

I am still struggling with the -iĝ and -ig usage.

Thanks for your help.

Vestitor (User's profile) May 15, 2017, 5:46:21 PM

Koniĝi = koni (know as in 'acquaintance') + iĝi (become/get; as in: edziĝi = get married).

Do... Estas ne facile koniĝi novajn-malnovajn amikojn.

I'm not sure about 'old-new' in the sentence it feels like an Anglicism (I use it myself). Also, perhaps koniĝi should be re-koniĝi (?) if the sense is getting re-acquainted with people you were previously close to, but no longer...

jkph00 (User's profile) May 15, 2017, 6:47:18 PM

Your explanation of iĝi as to become/get is very helpful, thank you! I was understanding it only as to be (something). Would amikiĝi then mean to become/get to be a friend? Ni amikiĝis, we became friends?

Vestitor (User's profile) May 16, 2017, 1:31:33 AM

I guess so. Amikiĝi kun... (according to Wells) is: to make friends with / to befriend (though I thought the latter was amikigi).

I admit I am also baffled sometimes by iĝ / ig. There are times when I see overlaps in meaning. If ig is causative, why is it not edzigis because basically that is actively causative too. To 'get married' doesn't seem like a passive thing to me.

The difference between: ni edziĝis and ni edzigis feels very slight to me.

Sorry if I'm muddying the waters with this!

thyrolf (User's profile) May 16, 2017, 6:36:25 AM

edzigi = make a man a spouse Mi edzigis mian filon
edziĝi = a man becomes a spouse Morgaŭ mi edziĝos
geedziĝi = a couple becomes married Morgaŭ ni geedziĝos kaj ni estas tre feliĉaj.
geedzigi = cause a couple to become married La kvar gepatroj geedzigis siajn gefilojn, malgraŭ tiuj tute ne volis.
edzinigi = make a woman a spouse
edziniĝi = a woman becomes a spouse

He said: "Mi edzinigis al mi mian amatinon" = I made my she-lover my spouse

My Englisch is not perfect, I know.

sergejm (User's profile) May 16, 2017, 8:10:37 PM

Estas malfacile reamikiĝi kun novaj malnovaj amikoj.
Re- marks repetition of the action
-igi and -iĝi in the same word never or rare meet.
-iĝi is not transive, so you must use preposition instead of accusative.

david_uk (User's profile) May 17, 2017, 12:20:36 PM

It is difficult to make new old friends?
Logically this does not make sense at all. Surely it is impossible to make a new "old friend".

I don't even understand what you are trying to say in English. Can you explain a bit more?

sudanglo (User's profile) May 18, 2017, 11:21:16 AM

Tute prave. Se oni ĵus amikigis kun iu, tiu apenaŭ povas estis jam malnova amiko.

I suppose that the original poster has in mind that one cannot, on making a new friend, have the same sort of relationship that one has with one's old friends.

However I think I read somewhere that a shared experience of danger with a relative stranger can produce a strong relationship - for example if you were both survivors of a ship wreck or a plane crash or a hostage situation.

Roch (User's profile) May 18, 2017, 4:10:07 PM

@ sudanglo ... for fun I googled it


I have lived in Westchester for almost six years, having moved from Long Island, our home for almost 40, to be closer to our granddaughters, ages 5 and 7. Moving as a senior citizen has not always been easy. I have learned that it is difficult to make new "old" friends.

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/oped/expressions-a-...

david_uk (User's profile) May 18, 2017, 4:48:29 PM

@sudanglo @Roch

You are both offering interpretations of what jkph00 said. But that is the problem: the original statement is not sufficiently clear, and that makes translation difficult because nobody except jkph00 knows what he was trying to say.

English itself may be part of the problem. I believe what Roch is saying would be better translated as "... novajn maljunajn amikojn". To say the same thing in English would be something like "...new friends who are (old / aged / elderly / middle-aged / adults)". Pick whatever 'old' word you want.

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