erinja:

qwertz:

erinja:
He is also not a rock, but you couldn't say that he is the opposite of a rock (which doesn't really make sense)

But that could make sense at some tales and saga figures, isn't?

No.

You can't put "mal" on any word in Esperanto. Mal- only makes sense if the word has a logical opposite. There is no such thing as the logical opposite of a rock.

Ach so, okay. Thanks.

jchthys:Isn't the English word 'unlockable' indicative of the difference between mal and ne?

[LISTO]
Malŝlosebla means 'able to be unlocked'
Neŝlosebla means 'not able to be locked'[/list]

yes, this is a good example and also confusing at the same time. When thinking of a more concise English word for these, 'unlockable' comes to mind for both, but the meaning is obviously quite different!

erinja:

qwertz:But that could make sense at some tales and saga figures, isn't?

No.

You can't put "mal" on any word in Esperanto. Mal- only makes sense if the word has a logical opposite. There is no such thing as the logical opposite of a rock.

THE ANTI-ROCK! Or a rock made of anti-matter. Or a rock that's from a mirror opposite of our universe in every way (so basically the same rock). Or a rock made of anti-matter that's not actually a rock but a strange phenomenon that explodes and implodes at the same time sending particles hurtling outwards at a bazillion km/h and inwards at -bazillion km/h.

Touching said rock may result in chaffed skin and a shattered sense of reality. Chaffings may then spawn into entirely new universes populated entirely by unicorns that smell like durians (and taste like them too).

---

I imagine many pantheist philosophers might have trouble then with the concept of "anti-christ" in Esperanto.

"Wait, so he's the opposite of the christ character according to christian beliefs, and christ is supposedly the human personification of a God, but if god is everything, and if there is good in evil and evil in good, then that means... wait, hold on, I might need a day or two...."

Might be problematic for an EO translation of the Left Behind series!