Re: comments on Itláni

On Saturday 10 November 2001 14:02, Jim Hopkins wrote:

> Actually, "yar", "yav", "yazh" are independent words that mean
> "present", "past", and "future" respectively.
Valdyan (I'll call it that, obsoletely, to avoid confusion) has
-well- they're probably pro-verbs, I call them "verb replacements",
to indicate tense if there's no finite verb in the sentence. Only for
past and future, though, not for present; present is default.

Rava   tylan echain
[name] smith PAST
"Rava was a smith (once)"
"Rava used to be a smith"
(or even "Rava is a former smith", probably because she's retired)

hanie      jat  tylan hyn
apprentice this smith FUT
"this apprentice will be a smith"
"this apprentice is going to be a smith"

They can also be used adjectivally: hanre echain "yesterday", valan
hyn "future king". (In fact "The Once and Future King" might be
translated "Valan echain so hyn" :-)

   Irina

--
           Varsinen an laynynay, saraz no arlet rastynay.
irina@valdyas.org (myself)     http://www.valdyas.org/irina/valdyas

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