tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Oct 31 08:20:49 1995
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Re: suppletion
- From: [email protected] (michiel uitdehaag)
- Subject: Re: suppletion
- Date: Tue, 31 Oct 1995 17:11:10 +0100 (CET)
Jarno Peschier wrote:
>> [Quoting MR PAUL J COFFEY]
>> >
>> > Jarno Peschier wrote:
>> > >What was was, before was was was? Before was was was, was was is.
>> > Cute! I liked it. But the Modern English verb "to be" is the result
>> > of suppletion. "is" and "was" come from different verbs. One might say
>> > "was" never was "is." {G}
>>
>> How was I supposed to know that (English not being my natural language
>> and not being an (English language) linguist)? I just translated this
>> litterally from Dutch: "Wat was was voor was was was? Voor was was
>> was, was was is." ;-)
>>
>> > Is there any evidence for suppletion in tlhIngan?
>>
>> What's suppletion exactly anyway (as I said, even though I kind of
>> like languages a lot, I'm no linguist)...?
I'm very sorry if this question is not appropiate, but I still don't get it:
'Was' is past tense of 'to be' and 'is' is present tense of 'to be', so
Jarno's line should IMHO be correct.
I am busy ----> I was busy
You are busy ---> You were busy
He is busy ---> He was busy
It is busy ---> It was busy
>>What was 'was' before 'was' was 'is'<< is a correct sentence. 'was' and
'is' come from the same verb 'to be' be it suppleted or not (I also have
never heard of suppletion in grammar, but then again, it probably is a Dutch
fault).
The sentence following the first: >>Before 'was' was 'was', 'was' was is<< is
IMHO again correct. I'm missing something here.
I can think of one possible reason: 'was' doesn't imply a proces. In effect:
'was' should become 'is', so you can't say >>Before 'was' was 'was', 'was'
was 'is'<<, but instead one should say >> Before 'was' became 'was', 'was'
was 'is'<< adjusting the first sentence accordingly. This is true in dutch
also:
>>Wat was was voor was was werd? Voor was was werd was was is.<<
One could also argue use of 'has been' or 'had been' but IMHO it doesn't
really apply here per se. Furthermore, Jarno's quote is poetry and therefore
does not need to agree completely with standard grammatics.
Sorry for the unnecessary use of bandwidth,
jej'QIb
USS Matrix Master of Arms <[email protected]>
XO of the USS Runabout De Ruyter <[email protected]>