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2007-Aug-15, Wednesday 01:12* Here's the tense, mood, and aspect (TMA) system of the minimalistic conlang:
The TMA markers are single morphemes (maybe words) and they appear before the verb in the order tense, mood, aspect. Whether the time of a verb is definite or indefinite is probably more important than whether it's perfective or imperfective.
The tense markers are:
nu (Prs) absolute present time
pa (Pst) definite past time
fu (Fut) definite future time
If none of these appear, the time is determined by context.
The mood markers are:
po (Pot) potential
ne (Ctf) contrary to fact
a (Imp) imperative (this acts like a prefix)
If none of these appear, the modality is determined by context.
The aspect markers are:
ha (Ret) retrospective
pi (Pro) prospective
If neither of these appears, the aspect is imperfective or perfective.
The tense and aspect markers combine as follows: if both tense and aspect markers appear, the aspect markers act as described above (noting that a verb with <nu> (Prs) is never perfective). However, if no tense marker appears, <ha> (Ret) becomes a past perfective marker, <pi> (Pro) becomes a future perfective marker, and the unmarked form's time and aspect depend on context.
Here's a little bit about "context". Certain auxiliary verbs imply some particular modality: potential or "subjunctive" in probably most cases, contrary to fact after "wish", and otherwise factual or "indicative".
For time and aspect, it's more complicated. In a subordinate situation (adjectival, relative, or noun clause), the time of the verb is relative present, while the aspect could be perfective or imperfective. In a more coordinate situation, the time and aspect are the same as specified for the main verb. If an initial main verb isn't marked for time or aspect, it's usually past perfective.
The TMA markers are single morphemes (maybe words) and they appear before the verb in the order tense, mood, aspect. Whether the time of a verb is definite or indefinite is probably more important than whether it's perfective or imperfective.
The tense markers are:
nu (Prs) absolute present time
pa (Pst) definite past time
fu (Fut) definite future time
If none of these appear, the time is determined by context.
The mood markers are:
po (Pot) potential
ne (Ctf) contrary to fact
a (Imp) imperative (this acts like a prefix)
If none of these appear, the modality is determined by context.
The aspect markers are:
ha (Ret) retrospective
pi (Pro) prospective
If neither of these appears, the aspect is imperfective or perfective.
The tense and aspect markers combine as follows: if both tense and aspect markers appear, the aspect markers act as described above (noting that a verb with <nu> (Prs) is never perfective). However, if no tense marker appears, <ha> (Ret) becomes a past perfective marker, <pi> (Pro) becomes a future perfective marker, and the unmarked form's time and aspect depend on context.
Here's a little bit about "context". Certain auxiliary verbs imply some particular modality: potential or "subjunctive" in probably most cases, contrary to fact after "wish", and otherwise factual or "indicative".
For time and aspect, it's more complicated. In a subordinate situation (adjectival, relative, or noun clause), the time of the verb is relative present, while the aspect could be perfective or imperfective. In a more coordinate situation, the time and aspect are the same as specified for the main verb. If an initial main verb isn't marked for time or aspect, it's usually past perfective.
