Re: Ng'and'ana grammar
From: | Andreas Johansson <and_yo@...> |
Date: | Friday, January 25, 2002, 18:08 |
Elliott Belser wrote:
>Subjunctive
> Present 'e, Ben'e 'it may be'
> Preiterate 'ev, Ben'ev 'it may have been'
> Imperfect 'em, Ben'em 'it may always have been'
> Future 'er, Ben'er 'it may be' and the command tense (you
>don't know if they'll do it in the future...)
As a possibly amusing contrast, in Tairezazh you use the future indicative
when giving an actual order to somebody. The underlying idea is that it is
simply unthinkable that the person/people you're addressing will not obey.
Tairezazh also have an imperative mood, but its use is considered inherently
polite, and your using it implies that the person/people you address is/are
under no obligation to obey. Almost always it's better translated to English
by a construction with "please" rather than a bare imperative.
Andreas
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