Re: Imperative vs Jussive vs Hortative

Paul Bennett wrote:
> As far as I can tell, the imperative, jussive and hortative cases
moods, not cases - case is a marked form of _noun phrases_.
have
> roughly the same semantic connotation, except they're split by person,
> thus:
>
> Hortative: 1st person plural inclusive (Let's eat!)
> Imperative: 2nd person (Go!)
> Jussive: 3rd person (Let them eat cake!)
>
> Is that all there is to it,
More or less. But to some extent it is language specific. For example,
in ancient Greek verbs had 2nd & 3rd person forms for the imperative
mood, so one would say that _elthato:_ (let him/her/it come!) is 3rd
pers. singular imperative. On the other hand, the 1st person (hortative)
must be expressed by using the subjunctive mood. One would then talk
about a 'hortative/jussive subjunctive', meaning the use of a
subjunctive to express the hortative/jussive mood.

> or am I missing some subtle (or not so
> subtle)  distinction? I notice the jussive and hortative are formed with
> "let" in  English, but is that part of a larger pattern, for instance?
No - it is language specific. In French, the three things are done
differently:
Hortative: mangeons! (1st pers. pl. present indic.)
Imperative: mange! mangez!
Jussive: Qu'ils mangent de la brioche! (Que + present subjunctive)

In Latin, as in English, the hortative & jussive were both expressed the
same way, but Latin simply used the present subjunctive for both. As
both 1st & 3rd person 'imperatives' are expressed the same way, it is
usual in talking of the Latin use to call both 'jussive'.



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Ray
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