-de

Trigedasleng

Etymology

From English there.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈdɛ/

Rhymes: -ɛ

Determiner

-de

1. (definite article) the

   Ten hef ona dou-de.

   Ten men on the door.

   -Echo (The 100, Episode 409)

Particle

-de

1. emphatic/demonstrative/topicalizing particle

   Em-de laik baga.

   She's the enemy.

   -Background Character (The 100, Episode 203)

Creation and Usage Notes

Many of those who have attempted to learn Trigedasleng have expressed frustration at the usage of -de, and I sympathize. The simplest thing to say is that it's like "the" in English, but it isn't quite—in fact, there are times where it's absence has been translated "the", and times when it's presence has been translated with "a". It isn't used a whole lot, so I can appreciate that it might seem inconsistent. There is a consistency to it, I can assure, but I have trouble explaining it. It's not a usual thing that happens with languages I've created, but as Trigedasleng is an outgrowth of English, there are many aspects of Trigedasleng that come intuitively—things that come from my own English competence which I've never had to explain, even as a linguist. Thinking of it as both a topicalizing and emphatic particle is probably the most accurate description. It often coincides with "the", but if "the" is obvious or implied, it's not used. Its presence draws attention to the noun to which it's appended. That, indeed, is the whole reason it's spelled with the hyphen. Were it simply a suffix, the orthographic "d" would be pronounced [ɾ] after a vowel, per usual. The hyphen is there because the "d" in -de is never lenited—and it is never lenited because the whole point of it is draw attention to its dependent. If the speaker were to run over it, pronouncing it as [ɾ], it wouldn't work. It must always have full voice. Hopefully that's a bit of a help—as, I should hope, is the etymology. After all, this derives from the somewhat irregular emphatic usage of "there" in English that we have (e.g. "You there!", "Who's that there?", "The table there… What's on it?"). I never have to think much about where it should or shouldn't go because it's clear enough when I'm translating. Alas, that makes it quite difficult for learners. Perhaps someone else will come up with a better explanation than I can muster one day. -David J. Peterson 03:05, 6 May 2020 (PDT)