Re: Hungarian tense, aspect, mood...

On 27 Apr 2004 Frank George Valoczy <valoczy@...> wrote:

> But it seems to me that Hungarian verbs were, in a past form, much
> more complex than thet are now.
  The "orginal" past marker was the indefinite _-a/e_ ~ definite
_-a'/e'_ (_olvasa_ - he/she read [past], _olvasa'_ - he/she read
[past] it), it had the same characteristics as the present-day past
tense. [Now extinct]
  The present day past tense (marker _-t/tt_) was originally a
verbalized past participle. It was developed (from the 15th
century) as a perfect form. It became a preterite soon as a free
alternative of the "original" past, and later the "t/tt"-type past
extinguished the "a/e"-type past.
  Present form + particle _vala_: it's first usage was "possible
past", then it was allocated for the translation of the Latin
imperfect. [Now extinct]
  "t/tt"-type past + particle _vala_: originally seems to be a free
alternative of "a/e"-type past, then it was allocated for the
translation of the Latin pluperfect. [Now extinct]
  "t/tt"-type past + partice _volt_: a variant of the previous
form.
  We may state that these weren't highly differenciated past forms,
they served only for temporary mimickry of the Latin verbal system.
[However, some dialects, mainly Szekler, adopted some elements.]

  For those who read Hungarian, I propose the following link on
this issue: <http://forum.index.hu/forum.cgi?a=t&t=9031705>

> 'olvasva lesz'
  It's not a tense, it's a verbal construction to express both the
perfect tense and the passive voice.