Iteratives was Re: New Language - Altsag Venchet

In a message dated 11/27/2002 9:57:14 AM Eastern Standard Time,
KarapcM@MOFFITT.USF.EDU writes:


>         Some languages (I believe Hopi for one) have a "chaotic iterative".
> It's for something done repeatedly but not out of volition. The best
> example
> is coughing. Coughing just happens to you, and you just do it, but without
> a
> pattern or regular period of iteration. I have that in the language I'm
> working on. It may be useful for you as a combination of "habitual" and
> "unintentional".
>
It might be of interest to note that Laadan has "repetition morphemes" that
make the following set distinctions:

1. bada = Repeatedly, at random
2. badan = Repeatedly, in a pattern over which humans have no control
3. brada = Repeatedly, in a pattern fixed arbitrarily by human beings
4. bradan = Repeatedly, in a pattern fixed by humans by analogy to some
phenomenon (such as the seasons)
5. brada [with an acute accent over the final "a"] = Repeatedly, in what
appears to be a pattern but cannot be demonstrated or prved to be one.

Doug