This use of "geben" ('to give') is an idiom. It does not indicate a broader
meaning of the word.

stevo

On Thu, May 10, 2012 at 11:38 PM, Casey Borders <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> German uses a much broader meaning of the verb to give. For example if you
> wanted to know if there were a cinema nearby you would say:
>
> Gibt es ein Kino in der Nähe?
> Gives it a cinema in the nearby?
>
> Casey Borders
> On May 10, 2012 8:03 PM, "Christophe Grandsire-Koevoets" <
> [log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> > On 10 May 2012 23:08, Gary Shannon <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > How have you mapped the semantic space in your conlangs? Are your maps
> > > systematic, or did they just happen?
> > > --gary
> > >
> >
> > This is something I'm paying a *lot* of attention to for Moten, which is
> > why vocabulary building is so slow. As for how it happens, it's a
> > combination of conscious design and random chance :) .
> >
> > For instance, to take your "give" example, in Moten there are two verbs:
> > _ja|zi|n_ and _joplej_. They both mean about the same thing: depending on
> > which arguments they have, they can mean "give", "take", "get",
> "receive",
> > "put", "bring", etc. Basically, they have a general meaning of
> "transfer".
> > Both have exactly the same meaning, with only a single difference:
> > _ja|zi|n_ implies the transfer happens towards the speaker (i.e. from
> > listener to speaker or from third-party to listener or speaker), or in a
> > way that benefits the speaker, while _joplej_ implies a transfer away
> from
> > the speaker (from the speaker to the listener or a third-party, or from
> the
> > listener to a third-party), or in a way that is detrimental, or at least
> > neutral, to the speaker.
> >
> > Another example is the verb _istu|l_, which means "to call, to summon",
> but
> > can also mean "to bring along". The verb _jeksaj_ means primarily "to
> > touch", but it can also be used to mean "to hit, to run into, to meet by
> > chance". The verb _jo|zemej_ combines "to eat" and "to drink" (Moten
> > doesn't make the distinction between those two). The verb _izgeboj_ means
> > "to work on sthg", but also "to tire from sthg" or "to suffer from sthg".
> > Those last two meanings are also among the meanings of the verb
> _igmadevi_,
> > but that one means primarily "to get sick because of sthg, to wear off
> from
> > sthg" or even "to kill oneself with sthg".
> >
> > And then there are verbs that are similar to English ones in terms of
> > semantics, but swap the place of the arguments, like _iteo|l_: "to
> please,
> > to be liked by", _jelojmaj_: "to be thought of by", or _jelojmastu|l_:
> "to
> > be remembered by" (yeah, it's a compound of _jelojmaj_ and _istu|l_).
> >
> > And I can also mention the weird case of "to know", which doesn't have
> any
> > true equivalent in Moten. In Moten, the act of "knowing" something or
> > someone is usually indicated by putting the manner by which one came to
> > know in the perfect aspect. So if you know something because you studied
> > it, you use the perfect of the verb _ivajagi_: "to study, to learn". If
> you
> > know a place because you've been there, you use the perfect of the verb
> > _izunlaj_: "to be located". If you know someone because you happened to
> > meet them once, you can use the perfect of _jeksaj_ mentioned above.
> There
> > *are* two verbs whose meanings come close to "to know", but they are very
> > restricted in their semantics. Those verbs are _|li|n_: "to be aware of"
> or
> > "to know by instinct" and _jolnesi_: "to be an expert in, to know by
> > heart".
> >
> > Something similar happens with "to meet". The verb _jeksaj_ is restricted
> > to indicate chance encounters. For planned meetings, one uses instead the
> > verb _ipe|laj_: "to see, to look at".
> >
> > As you can see, Moten does quite interesting things with the semantic
> > space, some somewhat similar to what happens in English, some quite wild.
> > Some verbs have a wide semantic domain and cover various verbs in
> English,
> > while others only cover a fraction of the semantic space covered by a
> > corresponding English verb. And yet, it all feels very natural to me.
> > --
> > Christophe Grandsire-Koevoets.
> >
> > http://christophoronomicon.blogspot.com/
> > http://www.christophoronomicon.nl/
> >
>