Re: Estonian; Hungarian

From: "Ray Brown" <ray.brown@...>
Subject: Re: Estonian; Hungarian


> On Friday, November 28, 2003, at 12:49 AM, Robert Jung wrote:
>
> > Does Estonian have vowel harmony?
> I haven't got definite info on that - but the examples I've seen seem to
> suggest that
> it hasn't.
Am I the only one who had a hard time understanding this response?  (And I
do realize that the distinction is Transpondian.)

It seems to me that there are two very different verbs spelled "have" in
English, one meaning something like "possess" or "hold" and the other being
an auxiliary verb making a phrase perfect; "I have a car." vs. "I have gone
to Sweden.*"  Add to that a similar verb "have to", meaning "must**".  When
making a negative verb or an interrogative verb, one must use "do" as an
auxiliary for this purpose.  So "the examples I've seen seem to suggest that
it hasn't." would invite the response, "It hasn't done what?".  Are Brits
generally aware of the fact that being able to negate and questionize "have
(possess)" makes Americans think that it's "have (perfect)"?

*Which I have not done, in fact.
**Not the stuff from grapes, before anyone says something.

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