Rokbeigalmki Compound Tenses (was: Senyecan Verb Idiom I)

On Jan 12, 2005, at 1:54 AM, Geoff Horswood wrote:
> Xinkutlan uses an immediate past tense prefix combined with a
> perfective
> prefix for "to have just":
> Possibly even combining the present continuous and immediate future
> tenses:
> atilrosabanir - I am presently in a state where I will immediately wash
> a(t)-il-ro(s)-aban-ir
> PRS-CONT-IMM.FUT-wash-1SGL
> This would be permissible- the language will let you string together a
> whole lot of affixes, even ones that appear contradictory- and the
> order
> you put them in can change the meaning of the word/phrase!
> It would be a bit unusual, though!
> Geoff
Rokbeigalmki works the same way.  Well, somewhat :) .

So the immediate-past and immediate-future compound tenses i mentioned
earlier in this thread are formed by adding the relevant tense marker -
past or future - after the present-immediate marker:

past = U
future = II
present-immediate = A
present-routine = OI

immediate-past ("have just") = |AZU-
immediate-future ("about to") = |AZII-

If you reverse the units, though, you get two completely different
tenses:

past-immediate ("was doing") = |UZA-
future-immediate ("will be doing") = |IIZA-

(the marking "|" signifies where the relevant pronoun is attached; the
verb-noun root is attached after the "-")

Here are the compound tenses:
(with only the time vowels marked)
(hopefully i'm remembering right; i can't find my old written-down list)

U = past/perfect
U U = remote past
U A = past immediate ("was doing")
U OI = past routine ("used to")
U II = irrealis past / counterfactual past ("would have")

A = present-immediate
A U = immediate past ("have just")
A A = transient immediate ("am doing only this instant")
A OI = immediate but feels eternal/routine?
A II = immediate future ("about to")

OI = present-routine
OI U = ?
OI A = routine/eternal but feels immediate?
OI OI = eternal / emphaticly routine
OI II = ?

II = future/irrealis
II U = ?
II A = future immediate ("will be doing")
II OI = future routine ("will generally")
II II = conditional/hypothetical



-Stephen (Steg)
  "esuseh, esuseh, who swallowed syria whole
   and the day she left us
   the sky rained desert sand
   the earth smelled of cumin and rosewater
   and our tears tasted of olive oil"
      ~ 'queen esther' by vanessa hidary