Re: [langdev] Tenses, moods, aspects! [LONG]
| From: | The Gray Wizard <dbell@...> |
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| Date: | Monday, August 14, 2000, 14:45 |
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From: BP Jonsson [mailto:bpj@NETG.SE]
Subject: [langdev] Tenses, moods, aspects!
> Friends, conlangers, net.people!
>
> Please help me to come up with as many tenses, moods and aspects --
> natlang, whatever-lang or newly imagined as you can. I'm totally
revamping
> my lang Funus, having decided that all derivation is actually related to
> these categories.
AFMCL:
Well, amman iar tenses are pretty mundane (past, present, future...boring!).
However the four aspects (definite, perfective, progressive and habitual)
interact with them in some interesting ways. As for moods, amman iar
abounds with these with 5 epistemic moods and 7 deontic moods.
It is interesting to note that these three components (tense, aspect and
mood) are the primary components of the auxiliary verb (the others being
semantic aspectuals and polarity). The amman iar auxiliary has no semantic
content of its own, but rather specifies the grammatical usage of the main
or lexical verb. But back to your question.
Tense/Aspect : I find these two difficult to discuss separately, at least as
far as their usage in amman air is concerned. For the most part,
combinations of tense and aspect behave as one might expect in amman iar
with the following points of interest:
1) The Present Definite is only used when the action is definitely being
done at the moment and must never be used when there is an implication of
the future such as "I am going to come next year". Such statements must use
the Future tense.
2) The Past Habitual is used to express the ‘historical present’. This form
is much used in narrative to make past events more vivid.
3) The Past Perfect is usually used with state verbs.
4) The Future Habitual is used as an irrealis tense to express impossible or
improbable future events.
In addition, amman iar has three "semantic aspectuals". (I am not happy
with this terminology and perhaps someone can recommend a more appropriate
term.) These affix to the auxiliary verb to indicate the following:
1) Relative - indicates that the proposition is relative to some accepted
norm, thus:
nonrelative
elieth an i vathmear arunarth
The soup is hot (it has reached its intended temperature. ready to serve)
\t elieth an i
\m el- -i -eth an i
\g assertive- -perf -past to.pat the
\p mood- -asp -tense ptp det
\x is to_pat the
\t vathmear arunarth
\m matho mear aruno -a -rth
\g eat liquid be.hot -pat -state
\p v n v -val -vc
\x soup be_hot
relative
elcorieth an i vathmear arunarth
The soup is hot (it is hot relative to some norm)
\t elcorieth an i
\m el- cor- -i -eth an i
\g assertive- relative- -perf -past to.pat the
\p mood- asp- -asp -tense ptp det
\x is to_pat the
\t vathmear arunarth
\m matho mear aruno -a -rth
\g eat liquid be.hot -pat -state
\p v n v -val -vc
\x soup be_hot
2) Transitory - represents a single event, like a stage direction.
elsilas ir aegnoran erlinnel
Aegnoran sings. (Stage direction)
\t elsilas ir aegnoran
\m el- sil- -as i aegon =an
\g assertive- transient- -pres the Aegon =masc
\p mood- asp- -tense det nam =gnd
\x does the Aegnor
\t erlinnel
\m er- linno -e -l
\g do- sing -agt -actn
\p agt- v -val -vc
\x sing
3) Generic - represents a general statement.
elharivas ir aegnoran erlinnel
Aegnoran sings. (Aegnor is a singer)
\t elharivas ir aegnoran
\m el- har- -iv -as i aegon =an
\g assertive- generic- -hab -pres the Aegon =masc
\p mood- asp- -asp -tense det nam =gnd
\x does the Aegnor
\t erlinnel
\m er- linno -e -l
\g do- sing -agt -actn
\p agt- v -val -vc
\x sing
Mood - amman iar distinguishes two major categories of modality: Epistemic
Modality that is concerned with matters of knowledge or belief and Deontic
Modality that is concerned with the necessity or possibility of acts.
1) Epistemic Modality encompasses all the ways in which speakers indicate
their degree of commitment to the truth of a given proposition. These fall
into two further subcategories: Judgmentals that indicate opinions that
involve the notions of possibility and necessity and Evidentials that
indicate the kind of evidence the speaker has.
1a) Epistemic judgmentals - Besides assertion, it is possible to make two
kinds of epistemic judgments in amman iar, a 'weak' one
(Speculative/Possibility) and a 'strong' one (Deductive/Necessity).
The simplest form of epistemic modality is the assertion. Assertions
represent the unmarked modal form of the verb.
alan erdullel eliras
He is coming.
\t alan erdullel eliras
\m al =an -0 er- tullo -e -l el- -ir -as
\g it =masc -[S] do- come -agt -actn assertive- -prog -pres
\p 3per =gnd -abs agt- v -val -vc mood- -asp -tense
\x he come does
The weak judgment is characterized by what is epistemicly possible or a
speculation about the event.
alan erdullel esiras
He may be coming. (It is possible that he is coming)
\t alan erdullel esiras
\m al =an -0 er- tullo -e -l es- -ir -as
\g it =masc -[S] do- come -agt -actn possible- -prog -pres
\p 3per =gnd -abs agt- v -val -vc mood- -asp -tense
\x he come may_be
The strong judgment is characterized by what is epistemically necessary or a
deduction about the event.
alan erdullel eriras
He must be coming. (it is necessary that he is coming)
\t alan erdullel eriras
\m al =an -0 er- tullo -e -l er- -ir -as
\g it =masc -[S] do- come -agt -actn necessary- -prog -pres
\p 3per =gnd -abs agt- v -val -vc mood- -asp -tense
\x he come must_be
1b) Epistemic evidentials indicate the kind of evidence the speaker has for
believing the utterance. These include hearsay evidence (Quotative/Hearsay)
and evidence of the senses (Sensory).
The Quotative/Hearsay modality is used when the speaker’s evidence is based
on secondhand information.
alan erdullel iriras
He is said to be coming.
\t alan erdullel iriras
\m al =an -0 er- tullo -e -l ir- -ir -as
\g it =masc -[S] do- come -agt -actn hearsay- -prog -pres
\p 3per =gnd -abs agt- v -val -vc mood- -asp -tense
\x he come said_to_be
When the speaker’s evidence is based on firsthand sensory information, one
of the sensory modalities are used. These include Visual, Auditory,
Olfactory, and Tactile modalities.
alan erdullel hemme iliras
He is seen to be coming.
\t alan erdullel hemme
\m al =an -0 er- tullo -e -l henno -me
\g it =masc -[S] do- come -agt -actn see -manner
\p 3per =gnd -abs agt- v -val -vc n -adv
\x he come seeing
\t iliras
\m il- -ir -as
\g sensory- -prog -pres
\p mood- -asp -tense
\x sensed_to_be
alan erdullel laume iliras
He is heard to be coming.
\t alan erdullel laume
\m al =an -0 er- tullo -e -l lauo -me
\g it =masc -[S] do- come -agt -actn hear -manner
\p 3per =gnd -abs agt- v -val -vc v -adv
\x he come hearing
\t iliras
\m il- -ir -as
\g sensory- -prog -pres
\p mood- -asp -tense
\x sensed_to_be
alan erdullel fausme iliras
?He is smelled to be coming.
\t alan erdullel fausme
\m al =an -0 er- tullo -e -l fausso -me
\g it =masc -[S] do- come -agt -actn smell -manner
\p 3per =gnd -abs agt- v -val -vc v -adv
\x he come smelling
\t iliras
\m il- -ir -as
\g sensory- -prog -pres
\p mood- -asp -tense
\x sensed_to_be
alan erdullel camme iliras
?He is felt to be coming.
\t alan erdullel camme
\m al =an -0 er- tullo -e -l cammo -me
\g it =masc -[S] do- come -agt -actn feel -manner
\p 3per =gnd -abs agt- v -val -vc v -adv
\x he come feeling
\t iliras
\m il- -ir -as
\g sensory- -prog -pres
\p mood- -asp -tense
\x sensed_to_be
NOTE: This last example is somewhat artificial. The Tactile modality can
only be used when the event is physically experienced and cannot be used
metaphorically as the example seems to imply. This expression would be
valid, for example, in the case where the speaker feels the vibrations of
his approach.
2) Deontic modality is characterized by expressions containing an element of
will involving language and potential action used to order, promise, or
place an obligation on someone. These fall into two further subcategories:
Directives used to initiate action and Volatives which express hopes, wishes
and longings.
2a) Deontic directives are utterances used to initiate action in which the
speaker tries to get someone else to behave in a particular manner. Since
these are performative, they are always used with future tense verbs, since
only the future can be changed or affected as a result of them being
expressed. Besides the imperative, there are two kinds of deontic directives
in amman iar, a 'weak' one (Permissive/Possibility) and a 'strong' one
(Obligative/Necessity).
Although the imperative is expressed within the modal system in amman iar,
it is not obvious in its surface form. Since the imperative must always be
expressed with an active future tense, the auxiliary (which carries the
modality) is usually omitted, thus
erdullel
Come!
\t (der) erdullel (tardhil)
\m der -0 er- tullo -e -l tar- -dil
\g you -[S] do- come -agt -actn imperative- -fut
\p 2per -nom agt- v -val -vc mood- -tense
\x you come will
An alternative form can also be found that drops the valency and verb class
markers on the lexical verb.
erdull'
Come!
This latter form, however, is considered a very abrupt form and should not
be used indiscriminately.
The weak directive is characterized by what is deontically possible or
permitted.
alan erdullel tandil
He may come. (he has permission to come)
\t alan erdullel tandil
\m al =an -0 er- tullo -e -l tan- -dil
\g it =masc -[S] do- come -agt -actn possibility- -fut
\p 3per =gnd -abs agt- v -val -vc mood- -tense
\x he come may
The strong directive is characterized by what is deontically necessary or
obligatory.
alan erdullel tordhil
He must come. (it is obligatory that he come)
\t alan erdullel tordhil
\m al =an -0 er- tullo -e -l tor- -dil
\g it =masc -[S] do- come -agt -actn obligatory- -fut
\p 3per =gnd -abs agt- v -val -vc mood- -tense
\x he come must
The Commissive Modality is used when the speaker commits him/herself to an
action.
erdullel taldil
I shall come.
\t (ner) erdullel taldil
\m ner -0 er- tullo -e -l tal- -dil
\g I -[S] do- come -agt -actn commissive- -fut
\p 1per -nom agt- v -val -vc mood- -tense
\x I come shall
2b) Volitives express hopes (Optative), wishes (Desiderative) and urgings
(Hortative).
The Optative Modality is used for hopes.
norivdil an alan coirarth perenle
May he still be alive.
\t norivdil an alan
\m nor- -iv -dil an al =an -0
\g optative- -hab -fut to.pat it =masc -[S]
\p mood- -asp -tense ptp 3per =gnd -nom
\x may to.pat he
\t coirarth perenle
\m coiro -a -rth perno -le
\g live -pat -state remain -temporal
\p v -val -vc v -adv
\x live still
The Desiderative Modality is used to express wishes.
naldil an alan coirarth perenle
Would that he were still alive.
\t naldil an alan
\m na -l -dil an al =an -0
\g and -actn -fut to.pat it =masc -[S]
\p conj -vc -tense ptp 3per =gnd -nom
\x would_that to.pat he
\t coirarth perenle
\m coiro -a -rth perno -le
\g live -pat -state remain -temporal
\p v -val -vc v -adv
\x live still
The Hortative Modality is used to express urging. Like the imperative, the
hortative must always be used with a 2nd Person referent as the S-function
argument of the predication, the pronominal reference may be and usually is
omitted.
erdullel nastil
Do come!
\t (der) erdullel nastil
\m der -0 er- tullo -e -l nas- -dil
\g you -[S] do- come -agt -actn hortative- -fut
\p 2per -nom agt- v -val -vc mood- -tense
\x you come do
Whew!!
David
David E. Bell
The Gray Wizard
dbell@graywizard.net
www.graywizard.net
"Wisdom begins in wonder." - Socrates