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5.15 FEEL 5.15.1 Primitive Syntax
The universal syntax of FEEL is still an unsettled matter. Two frames have been proposed: [IYOUPEOPLEd1 PERSON] FEEL[something goodbadlike thisthisthe same]
?[IYOUPEOPLEd1 PERSON] FEEL [goodbadthislike thisthe same]
The first is the standing NSM proposal; the latter is often discussed as a possible alternative e.g., W 1996, 120. For the purposes of our analysis, however, it does not matter which frame we adopt. Should the HCE
exponent not conform formally to whatever universal frame is ultimately adopted, it is a simple matter to re- analyze the HCE component as either a portmanteau form or as a simple lexeme which is formally complex
i.e., the HCE form corresponding to good actually means something good in the context of fio or likewise, the HCE form corresponding to something good actually means good in the context of fio. What does matter
is that our HCE exponent means the same as either SE feels good or feels something good.
5.15.2 HCE candidates
In SE, the form feel can be used in a number of ways. There is what W calls a “cognitive” feel: 113 I feel Dallas is going to win
i.e., I say this, because I feel something We use feel to talk about the sensations caused by physical objects when they come into contact with
parts of our body: 114 I could not feel the upholstery with my gloves on
i.e., to feel an object with part of your body We use feel to talk about sensations occuring in our body:
115 I feel searing pain in my right knee i.e., to feel a sensation within your body
There is a feel of emotions: 116 I felt remorse
i.e., to experience an emotion There are corresponding constructions in HCE.
“Cognitive” fio:
TA:36 Well, he feel he could make more better living over here. Why? I don’t know why he came.
113 “Sensory” fio:
ER:804 That’s why you just poke the knife right inside and pull ’em up and just let ’em go. Sometime he stand up and he lean, and then he gone. Pick one over there, poke ’em, put one another
one, poke ’em, put another one, poke ’em. No more noise. They no yell. Get two guys hold ’em out like this. One go with the knife. ’Cause they no like you poke and like that, ’cause you going bruise all the
meat. They like you one time you poke ’em. If you feel soft, eh, you know that’s the straight place you going. You just poke ’em straight and then just leave ’em go. He bleed until he gone.
FD:274 Yeah, that thing just like the tea leaves. Small leaves. And then have the small little pokeys.
Sometime, if only one loose in the pants like this, you can feel that thing. Oh, you can feel’em, eh? That plant.
NC:189 Yeah, because it comes turn yellow and pale looking. You feel under, stay rot. You know, after you plant the taro, the taro where you cut you get some taro. You feel under, it rot; it not
supposed to be rot. “Sensational” fio:
AK:629 Hawaiian salt, yeah. So I did, I pound everything, I squeeze the juice from the medicine and I told them, “Either way they want.” They want only the juice, can use only or, if they want, with all
the fibers everything. That would be good too. When you put and then you bandage. Then they tell me what they want to do. I told them, “If you put with the fiber and everything, this when you pound, with
everything you pound, then you put on wherever it place. Then when you feel little bit itchy, that’s going heal. No take that, just leave ’em there, he going heal.” I did for them. They offered me money but
I said, “No.”
EB:1140 Then, we come. We ride the Humuula. I don’t know if you remember the Humuula. No more Humuula. The steamer, the Humuula. The old one. The old Humuula. From Honolulu to Kona.
Yeah. Kailua. So, boy, that time. Funny thing is, when I come from the Philippine, come to Honolulu, I no feel dizzy. But from Honolulu to Kona, oh, just like the house spinning around. Two days, boy. Yeah,
funny thing. Hoo, the house just like the propeller of the airplane. Yeah, when I see ’em, look. Oh, I close my eye when I lay down.
MM:353 No, I never cut cane. I never cut cane. First job was cut seed, no? Cut seed, throw
fertilizer, hapai ko. I don’t know if, maybe, for that reason now, I feel pain all time on my shoulder.
“Emotional” fio: FD:265 No, no. Just regular. Just regular. Everything like every day. I didn’t care. Whatever stop
me from eating. I just eat. Yeah. Eat. And I was healthy. And even when I was in my first, second month, I didn’t have no sick or whatever. I work just as good as.... that’s what I think took my dad felt pity, too.
Even how big my stomach was, I was still going in the patch, pull taro and then helping in everything. MM:341 So, my mother used to give ’em the sour one. You know, Japanese used to make what
they call ombo. And then, sometime it turns sour, you know. No come out good all the time. Certain time, sometimes they come sour. So she no throw away. She keep ’em all in a gallon. And then, this
Portuguese guy come deliver the firewood. She give ’em one small glass. Oh, the fella feel happy, you know. Next day, he bring another load.
Although there is no one place where W explains exactly how to identify primitive FEEL, this information can be gleaned from various sources. “Cognitive” feel and senses of feel requiring touch i.e.,
“sensory” feel are semantically complex according to discussion in Goddard and W 1994:32,35. Elsewhere, W and Goddard 1994: 39,462 specifically claim that primitive FEEL can be used with both
emotions and physical sensations as illustrated by our examples of “sensational” and “emotional” feel. Therefore, we will be considering these two groups of examples in our analysis of primitive FEEL.
114 The HCE form fio is the only plausible candidate. It occurs relatively infrequently in our data. The
tentative conclusion reached in my first study Stanwood 1997 was that, in fact, we did have sufficient evidence to establish its existence in HCE. Further research has confirmed this original finding.
Previously, we had only a single example of primitive fio from Bickerton’s mesolectal O‘ahu speaker Bickerton, Derek and Odo, Carol 1976:344:
BO:344 wen ai stei filing gud, enikain kum aut ‘When I am feeling good, I’ll say anything’
5.15.3 Examples of fio
