Re: Genitive relationships (WAS: Construct States)

John Cowan wrote:

> As for Welsh and English, Tolkien's article on the subject pointed
> out the curious use, in both OE and OW (MW?), of two verbs
> for "be" (present tense), one normal (am, eart, ist, and all that),
> one future/consuetudinal (using the "b-" stem).  The verbs
> themselves, of course, are inherited, but the grammatical use
> of them is neatly parallel.  The other Gmc languages do not
> have this.  Likewise the be + ing progressive is English-only
> among the Gmc languages, but the Celtic languages all (?) have it.
Nwetis cebodel...(immensely captivating)
Caves
Suppletive forms, of course, for the copula abound in many IE
languages. And does Celtic really have an -ing that corresponds
to OE -and? Yr wyf i yn tynnu y trol, "I pull/am pulling the cart."
W. uses the verb noun in such constructions, not a present
participle.  "I am in pulling (gerund)."  Are you (or Tolkien)
in suggesting that the E. use of  "am pulling" is in deriving  from
the Welsh?      Cebodel.