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Re: Languages without verbs

From:Fredrik Ekman <ekman@...>
Date:Thursday, November 13, 2008, 17:19
Henrik wrote:

> If verbs are simply replaced by suffixes, i.e., the word status > changed to affix status, then I'd be tempted to call those affixes > verbs anyway and simply say that verbs are affixes, not words on their > own.
Good point. Since this is not my own language, and not finished anyway, I cannot say that you are wrong. What I understand from his ideas so far, however, it is not quite as simple as you make it out to be. The suffixes are definitely going to be a closed class, probably just a few variants as I understand it. These will not quite be comparable with Japanese "suru", since the suffix will not alter the meaning to be "to do x", but rather "to use x for this or that" (where "this or that" could represent, say, motion or intent). The suffix itself is useless unless it is also combined with an adverb or a preposition (I am not sure exactly what his idea is, and perhaps he does not even know himself) describing in what way x is motioned or intending. I am not at all sure if this is logical or possible, nor if I have got the idea right. Further thoughts are welcome, all the same. Fredrik

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R A Brown <ray@...>