On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 3:46 PM, Zachary Felix <zf2...@messiah.edu> wrote: > > What is the difference between the contradictory negation "na" and the scalar > negation "na'e"? According to the book, "na" is saying that the > selbri-relation is false, and "na'e" is saying "other-than", but how are > these really different? The only conclusion I came to was that "na'e" is > meaning that something else is true, though I think for most cases they would > have relatively similar meanings...
They are indeed very similar. The most important difference is their scope: "na" negates a whole proposition, while "na'e" only negates the word that follows. Compare these: ta na'e blanu karce "That is a non-blue car." We are told that it is non-blue, but it is definitely a car. ta na blanu karce That is not a blue car. NowiIt may be a red car, but it also may be a blue house, or a red house, etc. We don't know whether it is a car at all. You will discover other important effects of scope when you consider quantifiers, but that should give you a taste for how "na" and "na'e" differ. mu'o mi'e xorxes