Re: Languages without verbs

--- On Thu, 11/13/08, Fredrik Ekman <ekman@...> wrote:

> I use conlangs in grammar education for primary school kids.
> Some of the
> more advanced pupils create their own languages.
>
I wish I'd gone to that school. hehe.

> One of them has decided that he wants to make a language
> with no verbs. He
> intends to use suffixes on subjects together with adverbs
> for the
> functions that verbs normally serve in a language.
>
> I suppose that verbless (sort of) conlangs have been
> attempted before, and
> I would like to hear some ideas of potential weaknesses and
> difficulties
> with such an approach.
>
>   Fredrik
I've never made such a language, but it seems like you could approximately specify
an action by putting preposition-like suffixes on all the nouns:

"Book John-from Mary-to." It doesn't specify whether John gave the book to Mary or
if Mary just took it, but maybe that's no so important in the culture under
discussion. Or perhaps it could be implied by an adjective showing someone's
emotional state during or after the event: "Book John-from Mary-to.
John-happy." clearly tells us of a different event that "Book John-from
Mary-to. John-angry."

--gary

Reply