Re: Suppletory forms

Carlos Thompson <chlewey@...> wrote:

[snip - my comments about suppletory forms]

> Like voseo (Rioplatence and other dialects of Spanish) "and=E1" as
> imperative of "ir".  If in some future "andar" becomes less and less
> used would eventually disapear...  Let's imagine that Spanish language
> loses it identity and the several dialects would become different
> languages, with revised orthographies and like... some body will
> eventually ask where that such irregular verb comes from:
>=20
> Indicative: (<y> =3D /S/, <j> =3D /x/)
>   yo boi, boj and=E1j, el ba, nosotroj bamoj, ujtedej/eyoj ban
>   yo fui, boj fuijte, el fue, nosotroj fuimoj, ujtedej/eyoj fueron
>   yo iba, boj ibaj, el iba, nosotroj ibamoj, ujtedej/eyoj iban
>   yo ir=E9, boj ir=E1j, el ir=E1, nosotroj iremoj, ujtedej/eyoj ir=E1n
>=20
> Imperative
>  and=E1 boj, bayamoj nosotroj, bayan ujtedej
I hadn't realized about "anda'" (and in my own dialect)!
It's probably there because "ir" is so irregular that another
irregular form is expected. And the "proper" imperative, "ve'",
doesn't seem right. It's identical to "ve" (imperative of "ver"
=3D "to see"), and I guess most Spanish speakers prefer 2-syllable
imperatives with the last one stressed, as usual for most verbs.
Indeed, "ve" =3D imp. "see" is never used, probably for the same
reason; the suppletory form "mira'" =3D imp. "look" is used instead.

But I actually don't think the second person singular of "ir"
is going to take up "andar". In my dialect at least, you might
say "vos vas" /boh bah/ or even /bo'Bah/. "Vos anda's" /boh an'dah/
is properly used for "andar", as in "andar enamorado" =3D=20
"to be in love" (lit. "to walk in love").

And the imperative "anda'" might not be so strong after all.
Though it's already grammatical, I once heard a friend saying:

 "Si quere's irte, ite"
 "If you want to go, go"

with *"ite" as the expected regular imperative of "ir", appended
the pseudoreflexive "-te". Of course we all split our sides
laughing, but the word has its beauty...


--Pablo Flores

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 Wyszkowski's Second Law:
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  if you fiddle with it long enough.
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