Dynamism in Phaleran

Tom,

    I find your verbal morphology to be simple, elegant, and novel;   wis=
h I
had made it up myself.   :-)

    Some editorial suggestions on one section follow:


III.3.2.2: Dynamism
Dynamism measures the rate at which an action is changing.

-->Inflection for dynamism indicates the rate at which an action changes.

Actions which are perceived to be unchanging or are referred to as a simp=
le
action are static.

-->Verbs take static inflection when they stand for unchanging actions, o=
r
actions that happen once in a short time.

Actions which are perceived as undergoing change or inconstant are termed
dynamic.

-->Verbs take dynamic inflection when they stand for actions that change
through time or occur repeatedly.

Further, where permitting, some verbs carry a hyperdynamic meaning, where
the dynamic action is carried to its logical end or fullest possible exte=
nt.

-->When meaning permits, verbs may take hyperdynamic inflection, and stan=
d
for actions repeated or performed to their fullest possible extent, or
carried to their logical ends.


Static (-) Dynamic (-a-) Hyperdynamic (-o-)
lurindi "I have hit" lurindai "I have beaten" lurindoi "I have beaten (to
death)"

:-)    This conforms to your system.

stonasyolten "I am going to strive (with s.o.)" stonasyoltan "I am going =
to
defeat (s.o.)" stonasyolton "I am going to humiliate my enemies"

??    This does not.   Striving is an action that occurs over time, whose
nature can change over time.    Defeating can occur once and quickly, and
also represent a logical end of some action.    Humiliating can occur onc=
e
and quickly or over time.   Furthermore, striving, defeating, and
humiliating are not differentiated merely by the continuum of dynamism
you've set up:   they're independent concepts.

May I suggest this:   one verb, three inflections for dynamism:

"static"   to make a move against    "dynamic" to wage a campaign against

"hyperdynamic"   to defeat


>Note that static forms do not have to be inactive, per se; it means that
there is >somehow a constancy (or perhaps merely a predictability) to the=
ir
action. Similarly, >dynamic actions show the action as leading to an end =
of
some kind.

Say, how does your system handle linking verbs like "be?"

Be advised;  your "dynamism" appears to be aspectual.   This does NOT mea=
n
that your verb morphology won't work;   it just means that you may want t=
o
adjust your terminology.    The following should be helpful in examining
your system:  it's from the Lexicon of Linguistics on the web, whose URL =
is
...

http://www-uilots.let.uu.nl/~Hans.Leidekker/lexicon/ll.html

Aspect

SEMANTICS: a cover term for those properties of a sentence that constitut=
e
the temporal structure of the event denoted by the verb and its arguments.
Not all verbs have the same aspectual properties and so may belong to
different =B0aspectual classes. The aspect of a sentence is in many langu=
ages
expressed syntactically and/or morpho-phonologically. EXAMPLE: the
opposition between the perfective (I have gone), the imperfective (I went=
)
and the progressive aspect (I am going) in English. Also, it is considere=
d a
matter of aspect whether or not the event is bounded (e.g. I ran out of t=
he
room) or unbounded (e.g. I ran).

LIT. Comrie (1976), Dowty (1979), Tenny (1987), Verkuyl (1972, 1993).

Aspectual classes

SEMANTICS: A classification of verbs with respect to their aspectual
properties, dating back to an Aristotelian classification of situations. =
The
most popular aspectual classes are those proposed in Vendler (1967)
(extending a classification in Kenny (1963)) and applied and formalized i=
n
Dowty (1979): States, Activities (unbounded processes), Accomplishments
(bounded processes), and Achievements (point events). Examples are given =
in
(i) to (iv):

(i)   States: Socrates is mortal, She is in danger, He loves potatoes
(ii)  Activities: John walked miles and miles, She drove him safely
(iii) Accomplishments: John walked home, She ate a sandwich
(iv)  Achievements: She reached the top, He won the race

Linguistically, the classification is often used for the analysis of
=B0aspect. However, Verkuyl (1989,1993) argues that aspectual classes hav=
e no
explanatory function in the analysis of aspect. For him, the opposition
between States and Activities on the one hand and Accomplishments and
Achievements on the other hand is considered central, also known as the
contrast between durative/atelic aspect versus terminative/telic aspect.
Durative sentences, but not terminative sentences can be used with a
durative adverbial like for hours:

(v)   For hours she was in danger
(vi)  ?For hours she reached the top

Sentence (vi) can only be interpreted with a repetition, indicating that =
She
reached the top is a terminative sentence. In Slavic languages, terminati=
ve
aspect can be morphologically marked.

LIT. Kenny (1963), Vendler (1967), Dowty (1979), Tenny (1987), Verkuyl
(1989, 1993).


Good luck with your project,

Jim