Saturday 10 December 2016

10th Lexember Word

repé [ɾe̞ˈbe̞ˑ], inalienably possessed noun: “shade, shadow“

Originally posted by vhspunk

Surprisingly difficult to find a good GIF for this concept. Weird…

Anyway, this word isn’t all that difficult. It simply refers to the darkness cast by an object that blocks a source of light. It can refer to both the darkness itself (the shade) and the shape of that darkness (the shadow). Interestingly, as in the English word “shade”, it can sometimes refer to what is creating a shadow, rather than the shadow itself, especially in compounds.

Repé is inalienably possessed, i.e. a possessor must always be marked on that noun. The actual root of the word is rép, which indicates a known 3rd person possessor (”his/her/its/their shadow”). The citation form repé actually marks possession by an indefinite possessor (”someone’s (irrelevant or unknown) shadow”). Other forms include repún: “my shadow“, repí “your (singular) shadow“, etc. It makes sense: a shadow is always the shadow of something.

No example today, but I should have one for tomorrow’s word.

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