Okay...

Discussion in 'Linguistics' started by Dywyddyr, Oct 22, 2011.

  1. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    That fits.

    Agreed: but, as with my example, it doesn't always work the other way round.

    Befriendable.
    It's a logical extension, although I can't find it in a dictionary.

    Delight IN yes, but not delect (or delight) it..

    Hmm, pleasurable is another. If something is pleasurable I should be able to pleasure IT.

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    Usually if something is endurable it can be endured, rather than it can endure...
    This fits.

    This also fits. I can't profit it.
     
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  3. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    I can see that, but I thought that what Dywyddyr meant to point out was that sometimes you can't extract an existing verb from 'verb-able'.

    I thought the 'rule' was something like this:
    'verb-able': either able of providing 'verb' or able of being 'verb-ed'.
     
    Last edited: Oct 22, 2011
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  5. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    It does 'fit', but "dure" isn't really a word though, is it?
     
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  7. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    That's what I meant: you can't "dure" something that is durable, the way you can't "delect" something that is delectable.
     
  8. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    Close: if something is describable you can describe it. If it's indescribable you can't indescribe it.

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    Likewise indecipherable...
     
  9. Enmos Valued Senior Member

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    What about veritable?
     
  10. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    Yep, another one.
     
  11. NCDane Registered Senior Member

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    If something is debateable I can debate it.
    If something is driveable I can drive it.
    If something is inscrutable why can't I (in)scrute it?
     
  12. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    The negations were made from the already existing adjectives describable and decipherable, not directly from verbs.
     
  13. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    I can accept that.
    I've never managed to inedib something!
     
  14. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    For one, "veritable" is borrowed.

    For two, we can still understand it as "being truly or very much so."

    A verb can also be a phrase, like
    to take pleasure in
    to delight in
    to believe in
    to take to heart
    to keep in mind
    to be red/yellow/green
    to be true/false
    etc.

    Not just to read, to protect, to write, etc.

    When you see an adjective with -able/ible, try to imagine what verb or verbal phrase might be implied in it.
     
  15. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    The pair is scrutable - inscrutable.
    In either case, you either scrutinize it, or you don't scrutinize it.
     
  16. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    Simply as the OP - the word "delectable" came up in conversation and I (drawing on my hacker heritage) replied "Sure, I could delect it all night..."[sup]1[/sup]
    It then got me thinking (since the retort was: that's not even a real word!).


    1 It's a hacker truism that all verbs can be nouned and all nouns can be verbed, as explained here.
     
  17. MacGyver1968 Fixin' Shit that Ain't Broke Valued Senior Member

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    I think Dy is incorrigible.

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  18. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    Pfft, that would be (in)scrutinisable.

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    If something is scrutable (and I did check - it IS a real word [new to me]) then it can be "scruted": understood through study and observation/ searched.
     
  19. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    You could in Latin.


    The problem (sort of) is that in English, there are many words from Latin, at varying degrees of anglicization. This is why an adjective can be almost Latin (such as delectable), but the according verb can be English (to delight; to take delight in).
     
  20. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    Well you can't incorrig me!

    In fact I need very little incorrigment...
    (Read that out loud)
     
  21. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    Here's another one: tangible.
    If something is tangible, you can touch it.

    Other than that, does my explanation in post 36 satisfy your interest in this topic?
     
  22. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    But are you encouragable?
     
  23. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    Then that isn't one. Since you can "tange" it.

    It depends. Yes you've explained why and how we have such words, but it doesn't "fix" them.

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    If something's effable can I eff it?
     

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