Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Re: Comparatives (Difficult?!)

From:John Vertical <johnvertical@...>
Date:Friday, June 8, 2007, 12:24
Carsten Becker wrote:


>  "It took five days longer than it should have taken."

Finnish:
  _siihen meni viisi p&auml;iv&auml;&auml; kauemmin kuin (siihen) olisi pit&auml;nyt (menn&auml;)_
  it.ILLAT go.IMPERF(.INDIC.3SG) five(.SG).NOM day(.SG).PART
far.COMPAR.ADVERB than (it.ILLAT) is.CONDIT(.PASS) "keep,
should".PASTPCPL.ACTIV (go.1INF)
  "into it went five days more distantly than (into it) should have (gone)"

(null affixes and optional words in parentheses)

One can also begin with either of _se vei_-or- _se kesti_, it take.IMPERF -or-
it "stand, endure, persist".IMPERF, "it took" -or- "it persisted for", which would
also change the other _siihen_ to _sen_ (it.GEN), and _menn&auml;_ to _vied&auml;_ or
_kest&auml;&auml;_ (also basic infinitivs). Furthermore, with the latter verb, it would also
be possible to substitute _pitemp&auml;&auml;n_ long.COMPAR.ADVERB "more longly" as
the adverb.

This comparativ adverb construction is also used for any similar meaning - eg.
  _s&ouml;in nopeammin kuin sin&auml;_
  eat.IMPERF.1SG fast.COMPAR.ADVERB than 2SG.NOM
  "I ate faster than you"

John Vertical