"Trink-" versus "drink-"

Question

I am mildly confused about this pair of roots. I learned about trink- first in words like trinki, trinkaĵo, trinkigi etc. Later I found drinkejo used for a pub, so my conclusion was that the latter has the connotation of drinking alcohol while the former would be any generic beverage. But then in ESPDIC I found that many translations are applicable to both (jen an excerpt of the search results on ^[td]rink):

drinkaĵo: (alcoholic) drink, booze
  drinkejo: bar, pub, canteen, tavern, saloon
  trinkaĵo: beverage, drink
  trinkejo: bar, pub
  trinko: drink, beverage

which seems quite symmetric, at least in these words. There still seems to be more cases supporting my guess, like

drinkemulo: boozer, alcoholic, drunkard, drunk
  drinki: to drink (to excess)
  drinkulo: boozer, alcoholic, drunkard, sot
  trinkakvo: drinking water
  trinkĉokolado: chocolate milk, hot chocolate

but there's also

trinkaĉi: to booze (it up)
  trinki je ies sano: to drink to someone’s health

Unfortunately, most words do not have a direct equivalent (t- and d- used with the same affixes) which makes it harder to investigate further using this method. So, to what extent can I interchange these two?

Tomaso Alexander · Accepted Answer

It looks like your source contains some errors.

The distinction is fairly simple.

trinki - to drink (something).
drinki - to drink alcohol to excess.

As a result, the right verb to use with a glass of wine is trinki.

Both trinkejo and drinkejo are common expressions for bar. The difference is nuance. You're more likely to encounter drunk people in a drinkejo. For what it's worth, drinkejo seems to be slightly more common.

Shawn Kovac · Answer

I learned that the correct usage is to use 'trinki' for non-alcoholic drinks and to use 'drinki' for alcoholic drinks. In real life tho, since Esperanto does not have any official leadership to say what is correct and what is not, just like English, then use them how you want. If you are understood, then horay!

Answered by Shawn Kovac on August 24, 2021

"Trink-" versus "drink-"

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