Chlouvānem/Syntax: Difference between revisions

# ''tammikeike lære yųlaute.''

#: train.station-<small>LOC.SG</small>. yesterday. eat-<small>IND.PAST.1SG.EXTERIOR-AGENT</small>.

#: I ate at the station yesterday.

# ''jāyim paliu junikte.''

#: girl.<small>DIR.SG</small>. face-<small>ACC.SG</small>. paint-<small>IND.PAST.3SG.EXTERIOR-AGENT</small>.

#: The girl painted her [own] face.

 

# ''tammikeike lære yųlaute væse, nanā tammi tadāmek.''

#: train.station-<small>LOC.SG</small>. yesterday. eat-<small>IND.PAST.1SG.EXTERIOR-AGENT</small> while. – that.<small>DIR</small>. train.<small>DIR.SG</small>. arrive-<small>IND.PAST.3SG.EXTERIOR.PATIENT</small>.

#: I was eating at the station yesterday when the train arrived.

# ''jāyim palyu junikte : ni nenichladirya meinei muṣkemālchek.''

#: girl.<small>DIR.SG</small>. face-<small>ACC.SG</small>. paint-<small>IND.PAST.3SG.EXTERIOR-AGENT</small>. – but. hurry-<small>SUBJ.IMPF.3SG.INTERIOR</small>. mother-<small>ERG.SG</small>. ask-<small>INF</small>-run.<small>MULTIDIR-IND.PAST.3SG.EXTERIOR.PATIENT</small>.

#: The girl was painting her [own] face, but her mother kept asking her to hurry.

 

# ''tammikeike lære yųlatite lā ēk.''

#: train.station-<small>LOC.SG</small>. yesterday. eat-<small>SUBJ.IMPF.1SG.EXTERIOR-AGENT</small>. with. be.<small>IND.PAST.1SG.EXTERIOR.PATIENT</small>.

#: I was eating at the station yesterday.

 

* ''jāyim palyu junikte'' - “the girl painted her [own] face”. Past tense here expresses a generic action: the girl may have painted her face ten years or five minutes ago, but that is irrelevant to the situation. In this particular sentence, the girl’s face may be understood to have now been cleaned, or that she may have cleaned and painted her face again many times - but, actually, whether she did or didn’t is now irrelevant. The actual time when she did it only becomes relevant if it is expressed (e.g. ''palyas jāyim lære junirek'' “the girl painted her [own] face yesterday”) and then it is understood that her face isn’t painted anymore.

* ''jāyim palyu ujunirāte'' - “the girl has painted her [own] face”. Perfect “tense” here focusses not on the action, but on its result. The girl finished painting her face, and it may be seen that her face is still painted - when she did is still irrelevant, but it happened sufficiently close in time that the result of that action may still be seen.

* ''lære dašajildek'' - “yesterday it rained”. Past tense, implied meaning is that there’s nothing that may indicate that yesterday it rained, or it doesn’t influence the speaker in any way.

* ''lære dašejilda'' - *yesterday it has rained. Perfect tense; while wrong in English, this construction is possible - and, in fact, is frequently heard - though it often only makes sense in a broader context. For example, in a sentence like “yesterday it rained and the path collapsed, so we [two] can’t walk there”, English uses both times a simple past, while Chlouvānem uses the perfect, as the path is still not walkable due to the rain: ''lære menni dašejilda līlta viṣustura no, āñjulā gu pepeithnāyǣ ša''.

 

* ''jāyim palyu juniroste'' - “apparently, the girl painted her [own] face”. Past tense: it can be assumed that the girl painted her own face sometime in the past; e.g. the girl is now painting her face, and given the way she does it, it’s reasonable to believe it’s not her first time.

* ''jāyim palyu ujunirṇate'' - “apparently, the girl has painted her [own] face”. Perfect “tense”: it can be assumed that the girl now has a painted face, but the speaker has not seen her; e.g. in her room there are face painting colours open or that look like they’ve been recently used.

: ''jāyim palyu junirākoste'' - “apparently, the girl painted her [own] face, but probably didn’t”. Past tense: as before, but while she, or something she did, had made the speaker believe she had already painted her face at least once in the past, the way she’s doing it makes think that she probably never did.

: ''jāyim palyu ujunirākate'' - “apparently, the girl has painted her [own] face, but probably didn’t”. Perfect “tense”: as before; highly dependent on context. For example, there are face painting colours out of place, but it’s unlikely she did paint her face - e.g. it may not be a logical time to do it, or too little colour seems to have been used.

: ''tammikeike lære uyųlaṃte, utiya nanā tammi tadāmek''.

: train.station-<small>LOC.SG</small>. yesterday. eat-<small>IND.PERF.1SG.EXTERIOR-AGENT</small>. – then. that.<small>DIR</small>. train.<small>DIR.SG</small>. arrive-<small>IND.PAST.3SG.EXTERIOR.PATIENT</small>.

: I had [already] eaten at the station yesterday when the train arrived.

 

: ''tammikeike uyųlaṃte, utiya nanā tammi taluniṣya.''

: train.station-<small>LOC.SG</small>. eat-<small>IND.PERF.1SG.EXTERIOR-AGENT</small>. – then. that.<small>DIR</small>. train.<small>DIR.SG</small>. arrive-<small>IND.FUT.3S.PATIENT.EXTERIOR</small>.

: I will have [already] eaten at the station when the train arrives.

 

* ''dašajildek līlta vīkṣṭāṭ no'' - “it rained, and the path collapsed”. Past tense: the path has since been repaired and it is walkable.  

* ''dašejilda līlta viṣustura no'' - “it has rained, and the path has collapsed”. Perfect “tense”: the path is not walkable due to it having collapsed.

* ''hālyehulca prāgdeiru vuldate'' - "Hālyehulca (has) opened the window." Here, the perfect implies that the window is still open at the sentence's time (in this case, the present).

* ''hālyehulca prāgdeiru uldekte'' - "Hālyehulca opened the window." Here, the past implies that the window has since been closed.

* ''hālyehulca prāgdeiru māmei railan sām uldekte'' - Hālyehulca opened the window for twelve ''railai'' = ''hālyehulca prāgdeiru vuldate : tū māmei railų nin spṛšekte/aspṛšate'' - "Hāliehulca opened the window, then closed it twelve ''railai'' later". Note that in the latter verb both the past and the perfect may be used freely; in colloquial style this is also possible for the first verb (e.g. ''hālyehulca prāgdeiru uldekte ...''), but this is considered a mistake in more formal contexts, c.f. the alternative translation "Hālyehulca, who had opened the window, ..."

* ''marte mīmišviyek kite lįnek no'' - "(s)he kept being seen in the city, and [therefore] remained at home" ((s)he has since gone out of home).

* ''marte memīšveya kite ilįna no'' - "(s)he has kept being seen in the city, and [therefore] she has remained at home" (actual meaning dependent on a broader context, e.g. ''āñjulā tatanteħulonaiṣyes'' "you can find him/her there" (potential agent-trigger future of ''tatālulke'' (''ta-tad-lun-'') "to find")).

 

* ''naina mæn ～ dvārmom nañamṛca kautepuglek'' - "Naina ran_PERF into the room [and] woke [us] up_PAST"

* ''hālkenīs yanomųvima keikom namṛcābhe'' - "we jumped out_PERF of the beds [and] ran_PAST into the yard"

* ''tainā mæn yanelīsa pārṇami nacu ilakakte nainęs lā ħuldek'' - "Tainā came out_PERF [of the washing room], got dressed_PERF for the day, [and] played_PAST with Naina"

Compare this other example from the same text where the last two verbs are both in the past because they're ''contemporaneous actions'':

* ''nilāmulka mæn maildvārmom nañelīsa tainā lili no ṣveye primirtaram ñumirlam'' - "Nilāmulka entered_PERF the washing room [and] me and Tainā sit_PAST behind the wall [and] waited_PAST"