Missing English word |
It is handy to keep in mind series of words directly corresponding to each
other.
Say, English WH question words have simple direct Russian translations:
| English | Russian | transcription |
|---|---|---|
| what | что | chto |
| what...for | зачем | zachem |
| when | когда | kogda |
| where | где | gde |
| which | который, какой | kotoryj, kakoj |
| who | кто | kto |
| whose | чей | chej |
| why | почему | pochemy |
| how | как | kak |
If I do not know an answer to a question
and do not like to go into details (say, because they are irrelevant),
I can reply by a single word.
In Russian, you just add a tiny suffix "-то" to the question word:
| Question word | Indefinite word |
|---|---|
| что | что-то |
| зачем | зачем-то |
| когда | когда-то |
| где | где-то |
| кто | кто-то |
| чей | чей-то |
| как | как-то |
| почему | почему-то |
Let us try to translate this table.
| English question word | Indefinite word |
|---|---|
| what | somewhat |
| what ... for | somewhat ... for |
| when | sometime |
| where | somewhere |
| who | someone, somebody |
| whose | someone's |
| how | somehow |
| why | ??? |
In most cases, the indefinite word is formed by adding the
prefix some to the question word.
Sometimes the question word is replaced by an appropriate
noun:
For example, when is transformed to sometime,
rather than to somewhen.
But what to do with why? I really don't know!
In English there is no word somewhy.
But there is no any other word which could be used instead.
I desperately miss it!
I mean a precise replacement.
"For some reason" is not acceptable,
because "why" may refer not only to a reason, but also to a cause, accident, or whatever.
Really, I would appreciate any solution of this riddle.
Or explanation, why there is no solution.
Somewhy ?