Re: verb question

| -----Original Message-----
| From: Rob Haden
| Subject: verb question
|
| OK, I have a question regarding verbs.  Originally,
| my language (OurTongue) was going to have a verbal
| system based on a simple past/non-past distinction,
| but now I'm not sure if that would be as useful as a
| perfect/imperfect distinction. My question is, which
| do you all think is more useful?
| - Rob

        There should be an easy way to do both, at least at the syntax level if not lexical.

        There has to be a way of distinguishing:
It was finished previously / it is now finished / it will be finished
It was ongoing previously / it is ongoing / it will be ongoing

 Some languages focus more on tense (English), others focus more on aspect
(Hopi), some are more ambivalent (Japanese). From the little I know about
languages that focus more on aspect, generally perfective (finished) implies
past, and imperfective (ongoing? I always get those mixed up) implies present.
(Doesn't modern Hebrew work like this?) Still, there are semantic ways to make
Present Perfect and such.

 Anyway, you can make either lexical. You can even make both lexical. You have
to make some way of doing both.

______________________________________
Mike Karapcik   *       Tampa, FL
Network Analyst *       USF campus
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Research Center
ConlangCode: v1.1 CIT !h+ !u cG:M:R:S:G a+ y n30:3
B+++/R:Wic A+ E+ N1 Is/d K ia-:+ p-- s- m o P S----


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