Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Re: Perfect aspect

From:Doug Dee <amateurlinguist@...>
Date:Thursday, September 30, 2004, 23:17
In a message dated 9/30/2004 6:03:49 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
Peter.Bleackley@RD.BBC.CO.UK writes:

>Actually, this is an interesting question. Exactly how and why did "have" >get the sense of "auxiliary verb for perfect aspects"?
I recall reading somewhere that this is believed to have started with sentences roughly like "I have a cake baked" in the sense of "I have a cake that is in-a-state-of-having-been-baked." From there, it's a small step to "I have baked a cake." Doug

Reply

Andreas Johansson <andjo@...>