Re: Peculiarities of Silindion's Past Tense

--- Jörg Rhiemeier <joerg_rhiemeier@...> wrote:

> Nice morpho-phoemic processes and alternations you
> have here.
> And these suffixes are not predictable, but must be
> learned for
> each verb?
Well...I guess so. I mean, like I indicated in the
examples I gave, there are tendencies. It's much
easier to say which suffix will not occur on a given
root than the other way around. That's why it's just
better to memorize the form.


> > (Those whose extension is an "n" look like the
> Root
> > past tense with the suffix -në , and this might be
> the
> > origin of this odd suffix. They are different from
> the
> > verb neit- with its odd suffix, in that they have
> the
> > extension in many other forms as well)
>
> I see.  The extension cannot be counted as part of
> the past tense
> suffix because it also occurs in other forms that do
> not contain
> a past tense suffix.  Right?

Right, the extension occurs in the passive participle
the anterior gerund, throughout the subjunctive and
optative and sometimes in the imperfect. It does not
occur in the present active, the passive present 3rd
singular or the infinitve. Furthermore, most other
participles and gerunds to not have it. It may
optionally occur in the present participle, in some
verbs, occording to stylistic differences.

To take "ne-" as an example:

ne-llë "to give"
ne-(l)-ani "giving" (active participle)
ne-na  "giving"  (gerund)
en-ne-na "without giving" (abessive gerund)
i-ne-na "while giving" (conjunctive gerund)
ni "give" (imperative, irregular)
nissë "give!" (imperative plural, irregular)

ne-l-isë "after having given" (anterior gerund)
ne-l-dë "given" (passive participle)

etc.

In contrast, the -në of the root neit- is confined
solely to the past tense. Its anterior gerund is
merely: neitisë "having increased", and it's past
participle is: neitë "increased"

One verb has a consonantal increase in the passive
participle only, other forms lacking the increase:

 ra-llë "to have"
 passive participle: ra-n-dë
    (and not *ra-lë, as would be expected)
 This peculariaty is probably due to analogy with the
consonantal extension verb "ya-" "to go".

 ya-llë "to go" -> ya-n-dë "gone"

>
> This is really good stuff.  I enjoyed it!  Thanks!
You're very welcome, sometime soon, I hope to talk
about the present tense and its strangeness.

 Elliott


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