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Corb Belyea Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Conlang Help! The word "let's" and its usage.
To whom it may concern, I suppose,
I've been working on conlang, which is the art, or science, of constructing languages, and have come across a puzzler.
One of the tests of constructing a language is to translate Genesis 11:1-9, a verse about the Tower of Babel and the spread of language. In verse three, I believe, I ran across this phrase, which is often used in modern English, and I could not for the life of myself find out where it would go, or what it even is.
It reads: "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly."
The confusing part for me is the word "let's". What is it in this sentence? A direct object, indirect object, or something else? I'm currently using a simple (DO-V-S-IO) format for my sentence structure, where English uses a (S-V-IO-DO), I believe.
Could you perhaps help me in the placement of "let's" and the translation of this sentence?
Thankee,
Corbyn G. Belyea
Conlang Novice
I've been working on conlang, which is the art, or science, of constructing languages, and have come across a puzzler.
One of the tests of constructing a language is to translate Genesis 11:1-9, a verse about the Tower of Babel and the spread of language. In verse three, I believe, I ran across this phrase, which is often used in modern English, and I could not for the life of myself find out where it would go, or what it even is.
It reads: "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly."
The confusing part for me is the word "let's". What is it in this sentence? A direct object, indirect object, or something else? I'm currently using a simple (DO-V-S-IO) format for my sentence structure, where English uses a (S-V-IO-DO), I believe.
Could you perhaps help me in the placement of "let's" and the translation of this sentence?
Thankee,
Corbyn G. Belyea
Conlang Novice
Top answer
Corb Belyea conlang, which is the art, or science, of constructing languages Well, I suppose, given the law of entropy, the world would eventually have come to this. let's = let us (literally) So it's a verb and its pronoun complement. let's can also be conceptualized as a first-person plural imperative.
- Corb Belyea conlang, which is the art, or science, of constructing languages Well, I suppose, given the law of entropy, the world would eventually have come to this.
- let's = let us (literally) So it's a verb and its pronoun complement.
- let's can also be conceptualized as a first-person plural imperative.
- Before you're finished constructing your language I suspect you'll be expanding your DO-V-S-IO format into something considerably more complex.
- Have you studied any transformational grammar?
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3 Answers
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Corb Belyeaconlang, which is the art, or science, of constructing languagesWell, I suppose, given the law of entropy, the world would eventually have come to this.
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Thank you, Sir, for your help.
I suppose entropy would fit this subject rather nicely, but I've not yet gone down the road of the Trekkies and their Klingon, nor have I tried Na'vi or whatever the Game of Thrones language is called. Thank ***.
I think in the given sentence "let's" is the first-person plural imperative... But, as shown by my use of ellipses, I really have n
I suppose entropy would fit this subject rather nicely, but I've not yet gone down the road of the Trekkies and their Klingon, nor have I tried Na'vi or whatever the Game of Thrones language is called. Thank ***.
I think in the given sentence "let's" is the first-person plural imperative... But, as shown by my use of ellipses, I really have n
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Corb BelyeaI think in the given sentence "let's" is the first-person plural imperative...That would be my interpretation. After all, let's is the usual translation of first-person plural imperatives in those languages that have them.
Good luck on your project. Keep us posted.
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