Questions tagged [verbs]
For questions dealing with verbs (a part of speach)
29 questions
4
votes
1
answer
52
views
Class of intransitive verbs using zero objects, creating a second intransitive variant?
Yesterday I noticed the phrase "You're losing it." The verb 'losing' has an object, 'it,' but to my amateur read anyway the 'it' doesn't necessarily refer to a definite something agreed by ...
- 1,510
2
votes
1
answer
36
views
Resolving aspect mismatch in periphrastic constructions
I have a proto-language for which I decided to borrow a couple verb system ideas from Proto-Indo-European. There is no morphological tense, although there is aspect, and verbs have an inherent/lexical ...
- 1,226
2
votes
0
answers
72
views
Can finiteness markers evolve into non-finiteness markers?
I'm trying to figure out how two of my existing languages, Mtsqrveli and Apshur, could fit together into the same family, given a lot of accidental similarity in their morphology. However, there is ...
- 1,226
4
votes
1
answer
153
views
Split condition for nominalization pathway used only in certain verbs
There is a construction I would like to formally incorporate into one of my language's verb system, which involves rendering the main verb as a noun, which is then possessed by the participant that ...
- 1,226
5
votes
1
answer
133
views
Extending venitives/andatives
I'm in the middle of redesigning the verb paradigm for one of my languages, and I'm confronted with the dilemma of knowing that I want a prefix that looks like this, placed there for aesthetic reasons,...
- 1,226
7
votes
3
answers
318
views
Can a language exist without transitive verbs?
I'm developing my first conlang (no name yet) for a story and came up with an interesting idea: all verbs are intransitive, and objects are added with prepositions.
So, a sentence like "I eat ...
- 93
4
votes
0
answers
157
views
Non-decomposable TAM strategies
The agglutinative language I'm most familiar with is Hungarian, and the way Hungarian handles TAM is, I think, incredibly boring: separate T-A-M markers with no allomorphs that just get concatenated ...
- 1,226
1
vote
1
answer
74
views
How are separable verbs / phrasal verbs avoided in languages?
Phrasal verbs are common in English. What do other languages (natural or conlang) do to avoid this feature? That is, how can they say the same things without having this feature?
- 1,908
3
votes
1
answer
176
views
Specificities of VSO languages and common ones with SVO languages
I'm currently working on a VSO language and syntax is the next big step to tackle. However, I find it quite hard to find ressources on VSO languages and thought I could glean some informations quickly ...
2
votes
0
answers
49
views
Participles and types of verbs
I'm currently working on the verbal morphology of my language and was wondering the following :
How are action verbs differentiated from state ones ?
Is it even a necessity ?
Could a verb be both ?
...
7
votes
1
answer
181
views
How likely is it for conlangs to have verbs that have the same conjugation as another verb?
So I have been studying Spanish recently (mainly verb conjugations because I'm great at constructing sentences, but still am horrible when it comes to verb conjugations), and decided to teach myself ...
- 347
2
votes
3
answers
868
views
Are there any general rules for creating verb conjugation for a conlang?
So I have been thinking a lot about trying to make my own conlang. I have attempted before to create one in the past, however, all of them have sadly been abandoned. Looking back at them (since I ...
- 347
6
votes
0
answers
106
views
What are some different ways to use applicatives?
I'm most familiar with "applicative" meaning a specific way of rearranging the arguments of a verb. For example, the -el- suffix in Lingála adds a direct object to a verb, the person who ...
- 5,241
2
votes
1
answer
107
views
How to get rid of "for" and "of" when making a conlang coming from English, aiming toward Chinese?
I have learned about serial verb constructions, and I am looking into Leonard Talmy and his theories of translating between and among Chinese/English. I have seen a few examples where "for" ...
- 1,908
2
votes
1
answer
92
views
How to structure verb phrases (as opposed to noun phrases)?
In my question about formal vs. casual noun phrases, I got to the point of distinguishing between causal and formal nouns.
Notice that the noun phrases all end with -a, the noun-creator affix. That ...
- 1,908