Ujumbe: 18
Lugha: English
Kojotulo (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 3 Juni 2011 5:22:19 alasiri
sudanglo (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 3 Juni 2011 5:34:06 alasiri
I leave it to other native speakers to clarify. There could be differences in use between American and British English.
discouke (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 3 Juni 2011 5:37:07 alasiri
sudanglo:I think it might be an interjection to express revulsion (with some element of fear or surprise?) Maybe more used in the written language than the spoken.In American English, it's typically an expression of fear.
I leave it to other native speakers to clarify. There could be differences in use between American and British English.
ceigered (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 3 Juni 2011 6:12:56 alasiri
Not really Esperanto, but the guys who made Lojban included a list of "attitudinals" (basically emotion words like "whoah, oh, ah, eek, ooh" etc).
When reading through them I thought they did a nice job of summing up a rather "international" lot of exclamations which is not really possible to get perfectly neutral.
See here in the sections from "Simple propositional emotions:" to "Simple pure emotions:"
If I may adapt a similar idea for EO:
aha = paying attention, arriving at a conclusion.
(h)o(h) = realisation, receiving new information
ŭa = amazement, understanding, sympathy, regret/sorrow, fear
(h)iii(h) = fear, repulsion, tense, light-hearted impending doom
(Like "eeeeh, here he goes again" *bang* "I knew that was going to happen, why doesn't he just give up").But I'd stick to vowels, and h's, since there the most common features of those sorts of expressions world wide. In particular, linguistically diverse regions of Asia which have only a recently established writing culture might be a good place to look to, since unlike English which has had much experience in having words like "ugh", "hmmm" etc written down, they've had much less time so they're more "down to earth" and "in touch" with humanity's coarse, raw emotional side (they make up for disconnecting with emotions in other ways
) Kojotulo (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 3 Juni 2011 6:21:33 alasiri
3rdblade (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 3 Juni 2011 10:48:42 alasiri
'Hiiii!' or 'Hi-i-i-i-i!' is given for 'Eek!', possibly unchanged from the French.
geo63 (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 4 Juni 2011 5:06:46 asubuhi
Kojotulo:Eek! In Esperanto?Why not to use the original and then explain fellow-esperantists what you meant by that?
If not then perhaps some combination of ve! and ho! will do.
sudanglo (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 4 Juni 2011 10:22:48 asubuhi
I associate it only with speech bubbles in cartoons (American?). I am sure that I have never heard anybody actually say it.
geo63 (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 4 Juni 2011 4:59:20 alasiri
sudanglo:Eek! is not listed in any of my English dictionaries, including the Shorter OED.This is because this "eek" is not English at all. In my Collins dictionary there are only EGG before and eel after. No eek between!
I associate it only with speech bubbles in cartoons (American?). I am sure that I have never heard anybody actually say it.
henma (Wasifu wa mtumiaji) 4 Juni 2011 5:46:36 alasiri
geo63:Merriam-Webster (online) has this:sudanglo:Eek! is not listed in any of my English dictionaries, including the Shorter OED.This is because this "eek" is not English at all. In my Collins dictionary there are only EGG before and eel after. No eek between!
I associate it only with speech bubbles in cartoons (American?). I am sure that I have never heard anybody actually say it.
'used to express surprise or dismay'
It also indicates that the first known use is of 1951.