Lesson 46: Pejorative Affix & Inherently Negative Words

The Pejorative in Láadan

In Láadan, there is a consonant, "lh", that English does not have.

This sound is used in two main ways to add that "negative meaning" to words: first, as you may remember from our first "Time Out" lesson, the sound "lh" can be added to a word to indicate a temporary negative perception to a word. The "lh" can be a prefix (you may need to add an "e" between it and an initial consonant) or a suffix (an "e" may be needed in case of a final consonant). As you may also remember from that "Time Out" lesson, an existing "l" sound in the word can be changed to a "lh" to make the word pejorative. None of these changes would be found in a dictionary; they are made on-the-fly and understood to be temporary.

The sound "lh" can also be an "infix"; this is most common when forming new words from combinations of other words: where vowels would abut, the "lh" conveniently provides the alternation of vowels and consonants that Láadan demands while also conveying the negative meaning.

The second use of the sound "lh" occurs in words with an inherent negative meaning. These would be found in a dictionary. These unfortunate words also comprise our vocabulary for this lesson.

Vocabulary

These are all original words not derived from any others. On the other hand, sometimes, when forming a new word with an inherently negative meaning, we use extant words and word-parts that suggest the meaning we're after, but the negativized meaning goes beyond the combination of words and the "pejorative" influence to acquire a separate meaning of its own; such words would be found in dictionaries. We'll have an Additional Vocabulary section in this lesson to present some words of this kind.

Vocabulary

Of course you noticed several new words, none of them so pejorative, embedded within this last set:

Two more words might have been added to this list except that we've already seen them: "zholh" (noise) [zho (sound) + -lh (pejorative)] and "waálh" (Evidence Morpheme: information presented as "of dubious reliability"--and the speaker believes her source for the information is lying to her on purpose with ill intent).

Did you notice the difference in notation among "lh-" as a prefix, "-lh-" as an infix, and "-lh" as a suffix? This distinction can be very important: for example, the prefix "á-" (infant) is very different from the suffix "-á" (doer).

Examples

Our examples will not necessarily incorporate the vocabulary above. We can now use this new tool to cast a negative light on any word we've learned to this point.

Notice that the "darned cat" concept is expressed equally well by converting the "l" to "lh" or by adding the "lh-" prefix or the "-lh" suffix.

Exercises

Translate the following into English.

In #2, we see the word "rabalh" (reek, stink) [ra- (non-) + aba (be fragrant) + -lh (pejorative)].

In #3, we see "doer" forms for "lha" (sin), "ralh" (rape), and "ib" (crime). It is interesting that "ibálh" (criminal) is always formed using the pejorative; the official Láadan dictionary contains no non-pejorative word for "criminal." The word "ibá" [ib (crime) + -á (doer)] without the pejorative, on the other hand, might refer to a person who committed a crime--but who could not be classified as a "criminal." One could hold the same expectation for "rapist" as for "criminal" but the root "ralh" (rape) already incorporates the pejorative.

In #6, we see our first double-embedding. The sentence "mehéeda dalehóo hin" (these many things are sacred) is embedded as the Object of the relative clause "mehedeláad beyen..." (some believe...) which is, in turn embedded as the Goal of "loláad be lash..." (she feels indifference...). Perhaps this structure could be clarified by some bracketing: E rilrili loláad be lash [mehedeláad beyen {mehéeda dalehóo hin}ehéth]eháadi? This would give a "structural" translation: Or perhaps she feels indifference toward [some believe that {these THINGS are sacred}]?

Make the underlined word pejorative; translate into English before and after.

Of course, the word "ulhadá" in #8 holds no mystery for you: it means "betrayer" [ulhad (betray) + -á (doer)]. Also in #8, the word "lheb" [lh- (pejorative) + leb (enemy)] in the transformed sentence still means "enemy," but it has much stronger pejorative overtones.

In #9, the transformed sentence uses "lhezhub" (noxious insect). The official Láadan dictionary does have this as an entry separate from "zhub" (insect).

In #12, did you interpret "ewithá" correctly? It comes from "e-" (science of) + "with" (person) + "-á" (doer) and means "anthropologist." Of course, "ewith" would be "anthropology."

Translate the following into Láadan.

In #16, did you succeed in forming a word for "new-fangled"? Consider who uses this term--and why. It is used by those who are, or profess to be, content with the old ways--and to whom new ways are not welcome; in other words, it is pejorative. So, for the term "new-fangled" we could form "lhebun" [lh- (pejorative) + bun (new)].

In the answer to #18, I've introduced a new formation: "raban" (to take away) [ra- (non-) + ban (give)]. "Bel" means "to take," but does not mean "to take away from" or "to steal;" "bel" is limited to the "transport" sense of "to take."

Answers