Re: Question

On Thu, 24 Jun 1999, Nik Taylor wrote:

> Barry Garcia wrote:
> > Well, in one of my conlangs, thats the only way i can describe the third
> > aspect.
>
> Well, the thing is, and I don't know if you use it the same way, but to
> me, "completive" implies the completion of an activity.  However, -(h)e'
> indicates that the object is completely effected, that is, not just
> stabbed, but stabbed to death, or not just hit, but beaten.
>
George van Driem in his Grammar of Dumi (1993:213-214) has a category
of pseudo-aspectivizers which impart an _aktionsart_ to the verb
they modify. Amongst others (such as the frolicsome aspectivizer ;-)),
he has the following, which seems to agree quite neatly with
the use of completive <-(h)e>, and which he calls _terminative_. i

Perhaps a term like _completive_ will cause a lot of people to think
of perfective aspect - and I think a completive <-(h)e> is more an
aspectivizer than an aspect, since it seems not so much concerned
with internal temporal constituency of the action, but rather with
the nature of the action itself, i.e. it does not say much about the
situation-internal time of the action, but more about the way the action
was carried out, it alters the meaning of the verb in a way that, say,
a habitual aspect does not.

Yamphu (Rutgers. 1998. Yamphu, Leyden. pp..165) has exactly the category
of completive amongst its inventory of aspectivizers:

    4.4 Completive

        basic morphs:  <-sed- ~  -set- ~ se.->
        label:         completive

   The transitive auxiliary verb <-sed- ~ -set- ~ se.-> 'to complete'
   specifies that the event described by the main verb is carried out
   to its completion. A construction containing the completive auxiliary
   <-sed- ~  -set- ~ se.-> 'to complete' is also often rendered in Nepali
   by means of the verb <saknu> 'to finish'. The completive auxiliary
   <-sed- ~  -set- ~ se.-> 'to complete' is probably etymologically related
   to the independent verb <sed- ~ set-> 'to kill'.

   97  _pak.sep.pe..the.w.a               lae.?aen.di._
        pay_back.complete.RES.PF.->3.PLNR NW.EXH
          Now you've paid your debts.

   98  _namba.jati           jammai   yik.sed.u.ji._
        father-in-law._jati_ _jammai_ chase.complete.->3.3NS
           They completely chased away all father-in-law's people.

I'm sad to say that Denden doesn't have the notion of aspectivizers
as such - a completive meaning is expressed with an adverb and _tan_
like:

  Hamal ga  nothaz.dan ju,  kisen.dan nizoa    tan hakag.ju
  Hamal NOM kill.AGP   real steal.AGP complete TAN beaten.CRT
  Hamal is a real killer, he's completely beaten up a thief.

Perhaps a verbal compound or a serial verb construction could
be formed too - that would be an area I'd have to look into.

Boudewijn Rempt  | http://www.xs4all.nl/~bsarempt