Re: USAGE: Circumfixes

--- In conlang@yahoogroups.com, Tamas Racsko <tracsko@F...> wrote:
> On 8 May 2004 "Mark J. Reed" <markjreed@M...> wrote:
>
> > How common are these in natlangs generally?
> On 8 May 2004 Scott Barron <scott@E...> wrote:
> > Also, I believe German has circumfikhes to mark the perfect
tenses
> > (and past participle?)
>
>   I agree with your analysis that German (and Dutch, Yiddish, etc)
> weak past participles is formed by circumfix.
Strong past participles as well, though the latter also use ablaut.

Obviously very common.  We can add the Classical Greek perfect e- -
[k/h]-a for roots starting in consonants.  Not sure how we count the
reduplicating forms, e.g. vocalic l-e-lu-k-a 'I have loosed'
compared to lu-o: 'I loose' where the first /l/ is reduplicated from
the stem /lu/, let alone the 2nd perfect, e.g. p-e-pomp-ha 'I have
sent' compared to the present pemp-o:.  (Note the ablaut as well as
a circumfix!)  We can also consider the reduplicated presents in -sk-
, such as gi-gno:-sko: 'I come to known' compared to the Aorist e-
gno:-n or perfect e-gno:-k-a (future gno:-s-omai).  Similar
formations can be seen in Latin and Sanskrit.

Does the Greek-Armenian-Indo-Iranian past indicative augment *e-
also count as part of a cicumfix with the various past endings?

Richard.