Re: Oops, forgot something...

Marty Rosenberg wrote:
>
> I forgot to mention a few things that I could especially use help
> with, although everything is pretty much a blank slate for me.
>
> First, I have difficulty coming up with words. I tried using roots and
> particles to do so, but then I realized something else: I have
> difficulty coming up with those too. Is there any system I should know
> of that could help me along these lines?
>
> Also, in simple terms, what possible variants are there for
> conjugating verbs, and which should I use (although I do realize that
> this is entirely up to opinion)? I know of person (1st, 2nd, 2nd 1/2,
> 3rd), number, state of being (inanimate vs. animate vs. human, etc.),
> mood (indicative vs. subjunctive), time period (past, present,
> future), speaker, listener, and... um... whatever you call the
> comparison between simple, perfective, and progressive conjugations.
> And add the imperative in there too, wherever that goes.
What's "2 1/2"?

Do you know about the inclusive/exclusive distinction in 1st person
plural?  That is, whether or not the listener is being included in "we"?

In Japanese you can have the following:

Negation (Negative is actually an inflection of the verb, e.g.,
   Wakaru - understand Wakaranai - doesn't/don't understand)
Politeness (Wakaru - undertand, Wakarimasu - understand,
   when speaking to a superior or stranger)

Some other forms:

Kaetta - Went home
Kaecchatta - (Unfortunately) went home
Kaerareta - Went home - technically a passive form, but can be used to
indicate that someone was adversely affected by the action, e.g., "Ano
hito wa kaetta", "That person went home", "Boku wa ano hito ni
kaerareta", "I was adversely affected by his going home", "I was
inconvenienced by the fact that he went home"
Kaette ageta - Went home to benefit another
Kaeritai - I want to go home
Kaeritagaru - Want(s) to go home (non-1st person)
Kaeraseru - Cause to go home
Kaerihajimeru - Begin to go home
 (hajimeru = begin)
Kaeru tsumori da - Intend to go home
Kaeru koto ga aru - There are times when ___ go(es) home
Kaereru - Be able to go home
Kaereba - If ___ go(es) home
Kaerou - Let's go home/ I'll go home
Kaette hoshii - Want (someone else) to go home
Kaette morau - Have someone go home (subject "receives a favorable
action from someone")
   morau = receive
Kaette kureru - Go home (for my sake or someone near me)
   kureru = give
Kaette miru - Try to go home
   miru = see
Kaette oku - Go home (in preparation for some future event)
   oku = put

Most of these are auxilaries, which can be combined, so that the
inflections aren't as hard as they'd seem.

Some languages will inflect for "evidentiality", showing how the speaker
knows what is being said.  For example, you may have the following:
Visual: I saw this event occur
Sensory: I know it thru a sense other than sight (heard it happen, etc)
Cognitive: I'm basing this on evidence (for example, with a sentence
like "The dog ate the fish", it might be used if I saw fish bones near
the dog, and the dog looked like he'd just eaten)
Circumstantial: I don't actually have evidence, but based on previously
known facts, I think this is what happened (e.g., with "The dog ate the
fish", perhaps the fish was raw, and since people don't eat raw fish, it
must've been the dog)
Hearsay: Someone else told me this

--
"There's no such thing as 'cool'.  Everyone's just a big dork or nerd,
you just have to find people who are dorky the same way you are." -
overheard
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