Re: Grammatical Summary of Kemata

On Fri, 14 Dec 2001 11:33:42 +0100 Christophe Grandsire
<christophe.grandsire@...> writes:
> I have to think about it, but I seem to remember (don't hit me if
> I'm wrong,
> I'm at the edge of speculation here) an example I had in class, with
> the
> noun "médico": doctor. "Ser médico" would mean: to be a doctor (as a
> profession), "estar médico" would then mean: to do medical things
> right now,
> because there's no doctor around and you have a little knowledge of
> medecine.
> But I'm afraid I'm making a conlang here :)) .
> Christophe.
-

Well, Rokbeigalmki has a three-way distinction like that:

simple pronoun
"dathãv az": i am a doctor.  me = doctor.  no way around it.

present-routine tense
"dathãv azóí": i am a doctor (in general).  that's my job, it's what i
do.

present-immediate tense
"dathãv azá": i am being a doctor (right now).  it's my costume.  or,
like Christophe's idea, there aren't any real doctors around so i've got
to try to be one.


-Stephen (Steg)
 "mew with me!"
     ~ not quite _Rent_