Re: Suppletory forms

Carlos Thompson <chlewey@...> wrote:
>
> Even in Valluno (Cali region), the regular _vos_ imperative of _ver_ is
> commonly used: _ve_.
>
Oh! Here we have another suppletory form. In Argentina you never
hear _ve_ (imp. of _ver_). You say _mira'_, which is the imperative
of _mirar_ "look"; just as _ve'_ (imp. of _ir_) becomes _anda'_.

I guess for some reason we can't stand monosyllabic imperatives.
That would also explain why the imperative of _ser_ "be", which
is _se'_ is rarely used -- the speakers use some other phrase
(such as "portate bien" = "behave well" instead of "se' bueno" =
"be good").


--Pablo Flores