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<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Ken
Keyes raised several questions about phrases that I would like to see discussed.
The Qazaq phrase <FONT color=#000080> “az qaldy” “little left”
</FONT></FONT></SPAN><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>may simply be a straightforward way of saying that most of
something has been used: "There is little left of the flour." = "The flour is
almost gone." In this case it is not a lexical phrase. However if it is used in
other contexts: "We are little left there." = "We are almost there," then I
would say it is an idiom. The English phrase 'not quite' is like this. You can
say, "We are not quite there," but you can't say, "We are quite there." The
phrase 'not quite' is an indivisible whole and is filling the same slot as
'almost' or 'nearly': "We are almost/nearly/not quite there." It should be noted
that you can say, "The bottle is quite full," and "The bottle is not quite
full." But the two expressions are almost synonymous.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Here
are the issues I see in dealing with phrases: First, phrases constitute a fairly
high percentage of lexical items in English. The percentage may be less in the
polysynthetic discussed lately on this list, but I have had several people
report to me that phrases constitute about 25% of the lexical entries in their
dictionaries. I believe I already raised this issue on this
list.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Second, the part of speech label for a phrase should not be the same as
for a single word. A phrase like 'on the other hand' may function semantically
like a conjunction, and may fill the same syntactic slot. So it may be tempting
to call it a conjunction. However I would prefer calling all phrases 'phrase'
and then subcategorizing them. But at this point we run into serious
difficulties. Can we call 'on the other hand' a 'conjunction phrase'? What about
idioms that combine a verb and noun, like 'kick the bucket'? Semantically this
may be the equivalent of the verb 'die', but syntactically it is not a verb. It
is a syntactic verb followed by a noun phrase. So we might want to
simply label it as an 'idiom'. There is one more difficulty here. A noun
phrase has a noun as its head. But 'on the other hand' does not have a
conjunction as its head. It looks like a preposition phrase. When we classify
words, we are talking about three different factors:</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>(1)
Inflectional category--'boy' is inflected differently than 'man'. In Bantu
languages each noun belongs to an inflectional category that determines the
singular and plural prefixes and also affects concordial
agreement.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>(2)
Syntactic category--'the man' 'John' and 'I' can all fill the subject slot in a
clause. Most every language has a syntactic category 'noun' that generalizes
what slots the word can fill--head of a noun phrase, subject, object, complement
of a preposition phrase, etc.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>(3)
Composition--'backpack' is a compound noun composed of two nouns, 'on the other
hand' is compositionally a preposition phrase.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>It has
been my observation that these three issues get confused in practice. We also
confuse syntax and semantics when we talk about 'count nouns' and 'mass nouns',
or 'transitive verbs' and 'intransitive verbs'. Although it can be argued that
these labels reflect phenomena that operate on both the semantic and syntactic
levels. If a language has inflectional categories, it is normal practice to
label them in the dictionary. In Bantu dictionaries we place the noun class
immediately after the part of speech (muntu, bantu n.1/2 person, someone,
people...). What we call 'part of speech' is usually syntactic class. We
don't normally label the composition of a lexical item, although we sometimes
note it (foregone [fore + go] adj. ...).</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>So
when we label the part of speech of a phrase, what do we label? There is no
inflectional category. Some phrases, like 'on the other hand', fill an obvious
syntactic slot. So do we call it a 'conjunction phrase'? A syntactician may
claim that 'the day after tomorrow' is a noun phrase. But it functions as an
adverb. So do we call it a noun phrase or an adverbial phrase? One possibility
would be to establish the practice of differentiating between 'noun phrase' and
'nominal phrase', 'verb phrase' and 'verbal phrase', 'adverb phrase' and
'adverbial phrase'. The first in each pair would refer to a phrase with the
respective element in the head slot. The second in each pair would refer to an
idiomatic phrase that functions syntactically (and semantically?) like the
respective word class. I just looked at David Crystal's 'A dictionary of
linguistics and phonetics' and he distinguishes 'adverb' from 'adverbial' in a
similar way. I don't particularly like 'conjunctional phrase' but I can live
with it. Since part of speech is normally abbreviated in a dictionary, these
could be abbreviated as v.phr, n.phr, adj.phr, adv.phr, conj.phr, etc. Longman
labels some phrases this way, but leaves other phrases
unlabeled.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>The
third issue with phrases is whether to make them main entries or subentries. If
they are made subentries, should they be subentries under each of their
constituent words or just the first word? If just the first word, then do we
create minor entries so that the user can find them? For instance how would we
enter 'on the other hand'? One option would be to put it as a subentry under
'on':</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>on
prep. ...</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2> on the other hand conj.phr. (used when introducing another
opinion that is as important to consider as the one you have just given)
[Longman]</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>Another option would be to make it a subentry under
'hand':</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>hand
n. ...</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2> on the other hand conj.phr. ...</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004></SPAN> </DIV></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>We
could then create a minor entry which would alphabetize under
'O':</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>on the
other hand conj.phr. see under 'hand'.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>The third option would be to make 'on the other hand' a major entry
and possibly create a minor entry:</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>on the
other hand conj.phr. ...</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>hand,
see also 'on the other hand'</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>A
fourth issue is how to determine what is a lexical phrase and what is merely
collocation. There is grading between the two and no clear cut off point. There
are several tests. The primary one is semantic--does the phrase mean something
different than the sum of the parts? Another is syntactic--does the phrase
function in an unusual way? For instance 'on the other hand' is always sentence
initial or set off by pause: "The zebra, on the other hand, has fewer ribs than
the horse." So syntactically and phonologically it functions like a
conjunction. There are phonological and other tests but I'll quit. I'd like to
see a nice list of tests.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=742560716-06082004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Ron
Moe</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> Kenneth Keyes
[mailto:ken_keyes@sil.org]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Friday, August 06, 2004 1:11
AM<BR><B>To:</B> lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com<BR><B>Subject:</B> RE:
[Lexicog] Almost<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=EmailStyle19><FONT face=Arial color=navy
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">Ron,
et al, <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=EmailStyle19><FONT face=Arial color=navy
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><![if !supportEmptyParas]><![endif]> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=EmailStyle19><FONT face=Arial color=navy
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">In
Qazaq (one of the languages respresented on this list), there is a rarely used
word for “almost”, “derlik.” However, it more common to use an adverbial
phrase consisting of a reduplication of the verb stem with the gnomic future
–Vr (often called “aorist”) and its negation, -MVs e.g., zheter-zhetpes,
tiijer-tiijmes, bolar-bolmas…etc. E.g. Bazardan alynghan pajdasyn kuen koeryge
zheter-zhetpes. = “The profits taken at the Bazar are barely sufficient for
daily living.” Bajdyng ajaqtary uzengige tiijer-tiijmesten koek bajtal shaba
zhoeneldi. = “Just before the rich man’s feet had almost reached the stirrups,
the mare started to gallop.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=EmailStyle19><FONT face=Arial color=navy
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><![if !supportEmptyParas]><![endif]> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=EmailStyle19><FONT face=Arial color=navy
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">Bolar-bolmas
has the the unfortunate connotation of insufficient, inadequate,
irrealis…<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=EmailStyle19><FONT face=Arial color=navy
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><![if !supportEmptyParas]><![endif]> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=EmailStyle19><FONT face=Arial color=navy
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">Another
way to say this is there is “little left”<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>i.e., “az
qaldy.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=EmailStyle19><FONT face=Arial color=navy
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><![if !supportEmptyParas]><![endif]> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=EmailStyle19><FONT face=Arial color=navy
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">If you
search for the Russian equivalent for almost “pochti” in Russian-Qazaq
dictionaries, you won’t find an entry. That is because the language handles it
with an adverbial phrase. Am I correct in calling this an adverbial? At least
it is periphrastic. How should this be added as a dictionary
entry?<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=EmailStyle19><FONT face=Arial color=navy
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><![if !supportEmptyParas]><![endif]> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=EmailStyle19><FONT face=Arial color=navy
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">Ken<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN class=EmailStyle19><FONT face=Arial color=navy
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><![if !supportEmptyParas]><![endif]> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Tahoma color=black
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">-----Original
Message-----<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</SPAN></B> Benjamin J
Barrett [mailto:gogaku@ix.netcom.com]<BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Friday, August 06, 2004 7:25
AM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B>
lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com<BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> RE: [Lexicog]
Almost</SPAN></FONT><FONT color=navy><SPAN
style="COLOR: navy; mso-color-alt: windowtext"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
color=navy size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: navy"><![if !supportEmptyParas]><![endif]> </SPAN></FONT><FONT
color=navy><SPAN
style="COLOR: navy; mso-color-alt: windowtext"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="MS PGothic"
color=blue size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'MS PGothic'; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">In
Japanese, there are three concepts for this. One is adverbial such as almost
dry</SPAN></FONT><FONT color=blue size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; mso-fareast-font-family: 'MS PGothic'; mso-ascii-font-family: 'MS PGothic'"> </SPAN></FONT><FONT
face="MS PGothic" color=blue size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'MS PGothic'; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">(hotondo),
another for the adjective such as almost $1000 (ni chikai, gurai), and then
one for "almost happened but didn't" (tokoro, sou, etc.) I think you could
make an argument to collapse the adverb and adjective classifications; you
might even catch a native Japanese speaker using the wrong one
in</SPAN></FONT><FONT color=blue size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; mso-fareast-font-family: 'MS PGothic'; mso-ascii-font-family: 'MS PGothic'"> </SPAN></FONT><FONT
face="MS PGothic" color=blue size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'MS PGothic'; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">a
performance error. These are in the near category (chikai means near). I can't
think of any word that covers both of them at the
moment,though.</SPAN></FONT><FONT color=navy><SPAN
style="COLOR: navy; mso-color-alt: windowtext"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black"> </SPAN></FONT><FONT
color=navy><SPAN
style="COLOR: navy; mso-color-alt: windowtext"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="MS PGothic"
color=blue size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'MS PGothic'; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The
almost but didn't seems clearly different, though there are some cases that
might cross such as "almost full" and "almost done". </SPAN></FONT><FONT
color=navy><SPAN
style="COLOR: navy; mso-color-alt: windowtext"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
color=black size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black"> </SPAN></FONT><FONT
color=navy><SPAN
style="COLOR: navy; mso-color-alt: windowtext"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="MS PGothic"
color=blue size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'MS PGothic'; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Benjamin
Barrett</SPAN></FONT><FONT color=navy><SPAN
style="COLOR: navy; mso-color-alt: windowtext"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="MS PGothic"
color=blue size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: blue; FONT-FAMILY: 'MS PGothic'; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Baking
the World a Better Place</SPAN></FONT><FONT color=navy><SPAN
style="COLOR: navy; mso-color-alt: windowtext"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face="MS PGothic"
color=blue size=2><SPAN
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href="http://www.hiroki.us">www.hiroki.us</A></SPAN></FONT><FONT
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face=Tahoma color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; mso-fareast-language: JA">-----Original
Message-----<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</SPAN></B> Ron Moe
[mailto:ron_moe@sil.org] <BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Thursday, August 05, 2004 5:01
PM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B>
lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com<BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> [Lexicog]
Almost</SPAN></FONT><FONT color=navy><SPAN
style="COLOR: navy; mso-color-alt: windowtext; mso-fareast-language: JA"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-LEFT: 1in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><TT><FONT
face="Courier New" color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'">I've been
analyzing the domain 'Almost'. Longman's Language Activator
gives</SPAN></FONT></TT><FONT face="Courier New" color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'"><BR><TT>the
primary meaning of the English word 'almost' as 'almost a
particular</TT><BR><TT>number, amount, time, age
etc.':</TT><BR><BR><TT>'almost $1000' 'almost full' 'almost an hour' 'almost
50 years old'</TT><BR><BR><TT>If this is true, then the other meanings would
be secondary:</TT><BR><BR><TT>someone has almost reached some place: 'almost
there'</TT><BR><TT>something has almost reached some state: 'almost
dry'</TT><BR><TT>something is almost finished: 'almost
done'</TT><BR><TT>someone almost did something: 'almost
fell'</TT><BR><TT>something almost happened: 'almost
overflowed'</TT><BR><TT>something is almost the best/worst (the most extreme
example of some</TT><BR><TT>quality): almost the best</TT><BR><TT>something is
so similar that it is almost the same: almost human</TT><BR><TT>something is
almost some quality: almost perfectly round</TT><BR><BR><TT>This is a nice
example of semantic chaining, and one can readily recognize</TT><BR><TT>the
semantic links. However does this concept occur in other,
especially</TT><BR><TT>non-Indo-European, languages? Does the concept include
the range that the</TT><BR><TT>English word has? Would speakers recognize a
semantic link between the</TT><BR><TT>translation equivalents of 'almost' in
the examples above?</TT><BR><BR><TT>English has a nice set of words in this
domain:</TT><BR><BR><TT>nearly, close to, close on, approaching, nearing,
getting on for, not quite,</TT><BR><TT>be pushing, just about, practically,
virtually, all but, as good as, to all</TT><BR><TT>intents and purposes,
verging on, bordering on, more or less, pretty well,</TT><BR><TT>pretty
much</TT><BR><BR><TT>Many of these are secondary meanings of movement verbs or
words in the</TT><BR><TT>domain 'Near'. It would appear that in English we
conceptualize 'almost' via</TT><BR><TT>the metaphor 'move near' or 'be near'.
Is this also true in other languages?</TT><BR><TT>In this case is the primary
sense the one in 'to almost reach a place'? At</TT><BR><TT>least it seems that
this is conceptually the more salient sense.</TT><BR><BR><TT>Ron
Moe</TT></SPAN></FONT><![if !supportLineBreakNewLine]><![endif]></P></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
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