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Re: THEORY ago (was: Most common irregular verbs?)

From:R A Brown <ray@...>
Date:Tuesday, January 17, 2006, 20:04
Mark J. Reed wrote:
> On 1/17/06, R A Brown <ray@...> wrote: > >>But, with the best will in the world, I still cannot fathom how 'ago', >>in its modern use, can be analyzed as an adjective. So far no one has >>explained this analysis. > > > I think the idea is that "three years ago", the "ago" is telling you > what kind of "years" are under discussion,
Sort of like "ago years", as opposed to any other sort? The 'full form' "a-gone" could be used with 'to be', e.g. "Fours years are a-gone" = 'Four years have passed'. But we do not say *"Four years are ago". It's rather strained IMHO to call 'ago' an adjective.
> and the adverbial > relationship is merely implied. I could be wrong. It's not a very > good analysis, in any event. :)
Well, I think most of us are agreed on that one, so it's probably best not to flog this aspect of the thread further.
>>Meanwhile, it's interesting seeing how this is done Conlangs. How, just >>out interest, does Esperanto do it? > > > With antaŭ (=antaux if you can't see the last symbol; it's a U with a > breve), literally "before". So "Three days go" is "antaŭ tri tagoj".
Right - that's like the German method, I think. I have since discovered that Novial simply has 'X-time before now'. The example given in 'Novial Lexike" is: "_multi yares ante nun_ = many years ago." So 'long ago' would be: longitem ante nun
> A more interesting question to me is this: how does Lojban do it?
I agree. 'long ago' is apparently expressed by _puzu_ from the two cmavo: pu (time in the past) + zu (long time distance). the example I have found are: {quote} 4.7 le nanmu puzu vu batci le gerku The man [past] [long time] [long space] bites the dog. Long ago and far away, the man bit the dog. Alternatively, 4.8) le nanmu batci le gerku puzuvuku The man bites the dog [past] [long time] [long space]. The man bit the dog long ago and far away. {/unquote} I've found an example of 'puzi' for "a short time ago" (Guess what the cmavo 'zi' means!): 4.2) le nanmu puzi batci le gerku The man [past] [short distance] bites the dog. A short time ago, the man bit the dog. But, altho I've looked at several sites, I haven't discovered what happens with the Lojban equivalent of phrases like "three years ago". (BTW I get really put off by the use of all terms like cmavo, bridi, sumti, gismu, selma'o etc. :=( -- Ray ================================== ray@carolandray.plus.com http://www.carolandray.plus.com ================================== MAKE POVERTY HISTORY

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Philip Newton <philip.newton@...>