Tense formations
From: | James Campbell <james@...> |
Date: | Friday, September 14, 2001, 15:39 |
I'm documenting Jameld's grammar, and I could do with your help,
terminology-wise.
Jameld is a slightly mangled West Germanic conlang, so in many ways it
follows the tense formations that English, Dutch, or German speakers would
be familiar with. For example:
(strong verb) (weak verb)
to give yiben to love liuben
I give me yib I love me liub
I gave me yeb I loved me liubta (perfect past - right?)
So far, so hoopy. However:
I have given me yibave I have loved me liubave (imperfect?)
I had given me yibaa I had loved me liubaa (pluperfect?)
[BTW, to have: aven; have (present): ave; had (past): aa]
Here, instead of using the usual Germanic "have" + past participle, Jameld
derives these tenses from the imperfect infinitive (if that's a valid
terminology), here "yibaven" (to have given) and "liubaven" (to have loved).
But there's still something I always think of as a past participle; maybe
it's more of a verbal adjective. Help, I need technical terms! Compare:
(strong)
I have given it me yibave iet
It was given by me et wä yeban ük ime
(weak)
I have loved her me liubave ies
She was loved by me es wä liubi ük ime
What are "yeban" and "liubi" here? Have I used the right terms in this
email?
Thanks in advance.
James
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