oblitive verb in Hungarian

[Michael Noonan]

I'm forwarding the message below for Edith Moravcsik, whose mailer is on
the fritz.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

 Hungarian has an oblitive verb. It is derived from an oblitive noun.

The oblitive noun is:  ize' (with the accent mark over the preceding e); the
oblitive verb is: ize'-l, where the -l is a fairly productive denominal
verbalizer. Thus, the construction is somewhat similar to the Turkish one
described by Baris Kabak in his message of April 21.

 The verb is used both in cases where the speaker cannot think of the right
verb and also euphemistically, if he wants to avoid using a verb, such as a
verb for for stealing, bribing, or sexual intercourse.

Edith

Edith Moravcsik
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee