|
Server : Apache/2.4.62 System : FreeBSD fbsdweb2.web.rcn.net 14.1-RELEASE FreeBSD 14.1-RELEASE releng/14.1-n267679-10e31f0946d8 GENERIC amd64 User : www ( 80) PHP Version : 8.3.8 Disable Function : NONE Directory : /domains/markrose/board/messages/ |
Upload File : |
<html><head><title>Language evolution and the icëlani</title></head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<center><h1><!--title-->Language evolution and the icëlani
</h1></center>
<hr size=7 width=75>
<p>Posted by <b><!--poster-->Gustavo S. Pereira</b>
on <!--date-->4:22 7/21/02
<p>In reply to: <a href="462.html">Language evolution and the icëlani</a> posted by Luca Mangiat</b> on 22:12 7/9/02
<!-- PUT MESSAGE HERE -->
<p>
<font size=3 color="#000000" face="Arial">Hello everyone!<br><br>Talking about morphemes, word order and so, I'd like to tell you about a particular feature of Portuguese grammar (I'm a native Portuguese speaker from Brazil): the <i>mesoclisis</i> (maybe we could call this phenomenon like this in English - Port. <i>mes�clise</i>). It happens only with the future simple tense, which is composed of a root and endings from another verb, <i>haver</i> (Iike all future simple tenses in Romance languages). For instance:<br><br><i>Lavar </i>verb ("to wash")<br><br><i>Eu lavarei minhas m�os. </i>("I'll wash my hands")<br><br>But when that verb is reflexive, you must use the reflexive pronoun <i>se</i>.<br><br><i>Eles se lavar�o</i>. ("They'll wash themselves")<br><br>You can see that the <i>se</i> pronoun comes before the verb <i>lavar�o </i>(root <i>lav-</i>, ending morphemes <i>-a-r-�o</i>. That occurs (according to the official grammar) because the subject pronoun <i>eles</i> (they) "attracts" the reflexive pronoun so that it stays before the verb. The pronoun is in <i>proclisis</i> when it's before the verb. But what happens if the same sentence is rewritten <i>without</i> the subject pronoun (as Portuguese verbs can show the subject only by their endings)? The reflexive pronoun cannot come alone in the begining of a sentence. But the grammar also doesn't allows it to come after the verb. So what can we do? That's simple: we put the pronoun <i>inside </i>the verb, among the endings. So:<br><br><i>Lavar-se-�o.</i> ("They'll wash themselves"). This is the <i>mesoclisis</i>.<br><br>To the Brazilians, it sounds archaic and old-fashioned. Nobody would speak like that, it'd sound rather artificial. But in Portugal common people (mainly less educated people) speak it normally - so the grammar still preserves that feature of the language.<br><br>Why that happens? For historical reasons. The future simple is formed by the infinitive of the verb (in this case, <i>lavar</i>) plus the present simple forms of the verb <i>haver</i>:<br><br><i>lavar + (eu) hei = lavarei </i>("I'll wash")<br><i>lavar + (tu) h�s = lavar�s</i> ("you'll wash")<br><i>lavar + (ele) h� = lavar� </i>("he'll wash")<br><i>lavar + (n�s) hemos = lavaremos</i> ("we'll wash")<br><i>lavar + (v�s) heis = lavareis </i>("you'll wash" - plural)<br><i>lavar + (eles) h�o = lavar�o</i> ("they'll wash")<br><br>So, the pronoun found that position (between those two elements) the most suitable to stay when the subject pronoun is not there. And it happens with all the object pronouns <i>lhe, la, nos, vos, te, me.</i><br><br><i>cansar-me-ei </i>(but <i>eu me cansarei</i>), "I'll get tired"<br><i>olh�-lo-�s </i>(but <i>tu o olhar�s</i>), "you'll look at him"<br><i>ajudar-nos-�o </i>(but <i>eles nos ajudar�o</i>) "they'll help us"<br><i>ver-te-emos </i>(but <i>n�s te daremos</i>), "we'll see you"<br>...and so on.<br><br>Ad onlel�n, <i>�dhi �shtun ku l�,<br><br></i>Gustavo Pereira<br><br><br><br><br><br><font size=2><br></p>
</font></font>
<hr><i>Mark responds:
<p>This seems like a truly bizarre phenomenon till you know the historical
explanation. The development of the Romance future (and conditional) is
a nice example of the development of new morphology, something people tend
not to notice. (They're aware of the <b>loss</b> of morphology, and wonder
if languages get simpler over time.)
<p>Curiously, English has an idiom almost identical to the Latin one presumed
to be the origin of the future tense; it's seen in "I have a job to do",
"I have some papers to correct." Of course Latin was still SOV, so 'have'
occurred after the infinitive: corrigere habeo.
</i>
<hr><center>
<i>To make a reply, or see replies, see <a href="../">the index page</a>.</i>
</center>
<hr>
<!-- For index page:
<li><a href="messages/470.html">Language evolution and the icëlani</a> -
<b>Gustavo S. Pereira</b>
<i>4:22 7/21/02</i>
-->
</body></html>