Re: Genitive relationships (WAS: Construct States)

On Tue, 9 Mar 1999, Raymond A. Brown wrote:

>
> But the other point John reminds us is that the Old English division of the
> verb "to be" into two parallel sets of tenses etc, one lot beginning with
> b- and the other being rather more irregular, is uncannily like the
> Brittonic system where b- tends to denote habitual states/ actions, and the
> other forms are the "then and now" words - rydw i'n yn yscrifennu - I'm
> writing (now) ~ bydda i'n yn ysgrifennu - I (habitually) write.    In
> earlier forms of English there was a difference between: "I am
> a-writing..." [now] and "I be a-writing..." [as a something I do every day].
>
> Tolkien does attribute this Old English development, which AFAIK was unique
> among the Germanic languages and is now, alas, lost - to Brittonic
> influence.
"Black English" makes this distinction as well: I ritin [now] v. I be
ritin [habitual].  My source (A Host of Tongues) doesn't specify where
this is derived from, but certainly seems strikingly similar to your
examples.  It's an aspect marker, and is claimed to be influenced by West
African languages.  By the way, other interesting aspects (beyond the
"habitual be" are the "perfective done" and the "remote past been": I done
rite (I wrote); I been rite (I wrote long ago).  Apparently Gullah does
this as well.

Padraic.

>
> Ray.
>