Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Re: Suppletory forms

From:Pablo Flores <fflores@...>
Date:Wednesday, February 17, 1999, 14:25
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 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Wyszkowski's Second Law: Anything can be made to work if you fiddle with it long enough. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *