Re: Copulas

JOEL MATTHEW PEARSON <mpearson@...> wrote:
>
> So how do copular constructions work in other people's conlangs?
>
Well, the copula "to be" is found in Drasele'q in
equative situations, for example "He is a my brother"
(he = my brother). In this case you use the verb _qesten_
"to be", first in the sentence as usual, and then the
two parts of the copula. If one of them is too large,
you can use left dislocation:

_Qes  porr san lalet_
be.3s he   my  brother

but

_Qes ren doik  ar pod    san lalet_
 is  man there is he.REL my  brother
"The man who is over there is my brother"

is likely to be rephrased as:

_Ren doik ar pod, qes porr san lalet_
"The man who is over there, he is my brother"


There are no verb + adjective copulas in Drasele'q,
because adjectives are verbs, so you can't say:

**_Qes anth qail_ "This is red"
   is  this be-red.ActiveParticiple

but you must say

_Qail   anth_ "This is-red"
 is-red this


Other copulas are handled with two verbs in sequence,
for example:

_Lenva'n ito'l  anth_
 looks   is-bad this
= "This looks bad" (lit. "It looks this is bad")

Sometimes you might put an "adjective" (verb pple)
before the copular verb:

_Itthu'ndnentan tenkalet_
 "insulted      I-feel"

(alternative for _Tenkalet itthu'ndnimap_
"I-feel I-am-insulted".


--Pablo Flores

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
 A study of economics usually reveals that the
 best time to buy anything is last year.
                                         Marty Allen