Re: Unilang: the Grammar

On Wed, 25 Apr 2001, Oskar Gudlaugsson wrote:

> On Tue, 24 Apr 2001 10:38:04 -0400, Yoon Ha Lee <yl112@...> wrote:
>
> >Would the imperative or something else be used for the imperative, if any?
>
> I think the imperative will simply be an infinitive verb form, plus a
> [suggestive] emphatic marker; so, if /'mona/ would mean 'leave', and /ni/
> be an emphatic [suggestive] marker, the sentence "leave" would be /'mona
> ni/. I'd probably have a whole inventory of suggestives, with different
> connotations and degrees of politeness.
Sounds good to me.  :-)  I sort of like explicit politeness forms in a
language--perhaps Korean-based bias--because then you spend slightly less
time worrying about various kinds of phrasing (English "Could you open
the window" vs. "It's hot in here" vs. "Open the window, darnit!" vs.
"You might think about opening the window," etc.) and *have* the forms.
OTOH figuring out which one to use can be a pain...the German grammar I
first learned from didn't introduce "du" until halfway through the book;
I guess they were afraid you'd end of duzen'ing someone and getting whapped.

YHL