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I know that aparteni al means to belong to. What about to belong somewhere?

  • He belongs on the contryside.
  • No, you can not bring the snail home. It belongs in the forrest, honey.
  • This poem is about the sense of belonging.

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I'd say that "to belong somewhere" is just a more poetic way of saying "something belongs to a place" with a bit of the ownership sense of the word being justified.

  • Li apartenas al la kamparo.
  • Ne, vi ne rajtas kunporti la limakon hejmen. Ĝi estas apartena al la arbaro, kara.
  • Ĉi tiu poemo estas pri la senco de aparteneco.

However, the affix "-ind-" has a sense of what "should be". So maybe "lokindi" could mean to belong in a place. I made it up, but it should be understandable.

  • Li lokindas al la kamparo.
  • Ne, vi ne rajtas bringi la limakon hejmen. Ĝi estas lokinda al la arbaro, kara.
  • Ĉi tiu poemo estas pri la senco de lokindeco.

But I'm not sure "lokindi" provides any more meaning than "aperteni".

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  • "bringi"? I think the word you're looking for is "(kun)porti"
    – kristan
    Nov 22, 2016 at 8:22
  • The first part is clever, I din't think of that. I have some doubts about the second idea, but I really enjoy hearing proposals for creative use of the affixes. Alsways interesting. Now, I think senco actually doesn't fit in there, going by the definition in PIV, but I also doesn't know what to replace it with. (maybe that can make another question) I'm being very picky, it's just a detail. Nov 22, 2016 at 9:08
  • @kristan Yes, you're right. I've fixed it. One problem with so many English import words is that it becomes hard to remember which words do not import.
    – vangelion
    Nov 22, 2016 at 19:21
  • @AntoniaMontaro I wasn't sure about the exact meaning you were going for with "sense of belonging." I went with "The poem is about the meaning of belonging," but it could also be "... the feeling of belonging", or even "... about how one senses that they belong."
    – vangelion
    Nov 22, 2016 at 19:25
  • @Ah... I see! I was thinking of one of the two last ones. Nov 23, 2016 at 7:11

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