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Verb Mood questions.

From:Paul Edson <conlang@...>
Date:Thursday, March 14, 2002, 15:45
Actually, probably less questions than a series of
assumptions with a single question--is this how it works?
[Note that the "names" I've given the example moods may be
non-standard, and I'd appreciate being corrected. I believe
I've cribbed these names from reliable sources, but may have
pulled some of them out of my... err, out of the air.]


1. Assume that a notional language marks verbs for a range
of moods in the following fashion:

a. optative (speaker wishes for the statement to be true)
= -oc
b. intentive (speaker intends to cause the statement to be
true) = -ap
c. assumptive (speaker assumes the statement to be true
because it would usually be) = -im

2. Given those assumptions, the following pairs of sentences
would convey (at least approximately) the same meaning.

a. I wish it would rain.
a. It rains-oc.

b. I will make him stop.
b. He stops-ap.

c. She usually arrives late.
c. She arrives-im late.


Am I understanding mood-marking at all? It *seems* right to
me...

------------
Paul Edson (conlang@twocannibals.com)

"It might look as if I'm staring at you with a mixture of
contempt and disbelief, but I'm actually meditating."

-Dilbert

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