The West Saxon Scratchpad (Formerly the West Saxon Thread)
Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 5:36 pm
*UPDATE* Things have been a bit hectic for me over the last little while, and I've grown a bit dissatisfied with the state of West Saxon. After repeated failed edits, I've decided to start building the grammar back up from scratch, using whatever I already had as a base. I've decided to use the scratchpad approach to let me be a bit more flexible an experimental in my presentation. Updates will be more sketchy, but hopefully more frequent. Eventually I'll be consolidating what I've got into a more formal grammar, and other resources.
*END UPDATE*
It seems as though my two old threads on West Saxon have been pruned. Ah well, c'est la vie. I've not given up on it, however, and have been trying to get myself to do some more work on the syntax portion (as well as some revisions). I've found that the verbal syntax is giving me nightmares, and trying to get it to sound like something reasonably professional is the scribal equivalent of pulling teeth. That's where you guys come in. Here is a rough draft (more like glorified notes, actually) on the 9 tenses of West Saxon. If you could all kindly read, eviscerate, and curb stomp it, pointing out all the things that it is oh so woefully lacking, I would appreciate it greatly. Thanks!
Oh, and here's a link the (partial) West Saxon Reference Grammar, as well as one to the Verbal Morphology section
In most analyses, West Saxon has three grammatical tenses (past, present, and future) and three grammatical aspects (Perfective, Imperfective, and Perfect). These two sets of three combine two form 9 tense/aspect combinations. Their formation and uses are as follows:
Present Tenses
Simple Present
This is formed by using the simple present tense form of the verb. It denotes:
*Actions currently being performed
*As a "near future" tense, with appropriate adverbs (soon, tomorrow, etc.)
*Current states of being
*Equivalent of the preterit when used as a "narrative" present describing a past event.
Progressive
This is formed by combining the present tense of the verb beun with the durative participle. It denotes:
*Emphatic progressives, with a sense of "I'm right in the middle of x-ing."
*To express actions done habitually in the present.
*To form "since..." and "for..." style constructions, such as "I've lived in Winchester for 3 years/since 2005."
*Equivalent of the imperfect when using the "narrative" present.
*With adverbs of duration, i.e "Monday, I'm washing the car."
Perfect
The perfect is formed by the present tense form of either beun or han, plus the past participle. Beun is used with intransitive verbs, while han is used with transitive verbs. Its uses are as follows:
* To express that an action has been completed, and that it still has a relevance to the present. It can also sometimes be mixed up with the use of the preterit.
* Occasionally used as an equivalent of the pluperfect when using a "narrative" present, but more often the pluperfect is used instead.
Past Tenses
Preterit
The preterit is formed by using the preterit inflected form of the verb and is used to describe actions in the past which have been completed, and are conceived of as being a single, discreet action. It does not matter how long the action actually takes, so long as the action is considered a complete whole, e.g. "I went to Rome last summer."
Imperfect
The imperfect is formed by combining the preterit form of the verb beun with the durative participle. It is used:
* To say that an action was ongoing while another action is taking place.
* As past tense equivalents of the uses of the Progressive.
Pluperfect
The pluperfect is formed by combining the preterit forms of either beun or han with the past participle. It is used to show that an action has been completed before another action that occurs in the past.
Future Tenses
Simple Future
The future tense is formed either by the inflected future form (for the verb beun) or the inflected future of beun combined with the infinitive (for all other verbs). It is used to denote an action that will take place in the future, and is conceived of as a whole, perfective action. It is basically treated like the preterit, except it will occur after "now," rather than before.
The simple future can also be used as a "gnomic" future, to describe timeless, universal, or general facts. This is a continuation of the semantics of the verb beun, which have existed since the Old West Saxon period.
Future Progressive
The future progressive is formed by combining the inflected future form of beun with the durative participle, and it functions as a future tense equivalent of the imperfect.
Future Perfect
The future perfect is formed by combining the future forms of beun or han with the past participle. It is used to describe a future action that will be completed prior to another action which will also occur in the past, or which will have some impact on some point in the future.
That's it. Now, get curb stompin'! Tell me what you like, what you don't like, what you think could use some more detailed explanation, what leaves you scratching your head going WTF? Once this has been bloodied and beaten, I can then hopefully turn it into the grammatical equivalent of the $6 million man or Robocop. Then I can start talking about things like use of the subjunctive, inchoactive and causative constructions, the weln and scoln futures, and so forth. Vielen Dank!
*END UPDATE*
It seems as though my two old threads on West Saxon have been pruned. Ah well, c'est la vie. I've not given up on it, however, and have been trying to get myself to do some more work on the syntax portion (as well as some revisions). I've found that the verbal syntax is giving me nightmares, and trying to get it to sound like something reasonably professional is the scribal equivalent of pulling teeth. That's where you guys come in. Here is a rough draft (more like glorified notes, actually) on the 9 tenses of West Saxon. If you could all kindly read, eviscerate, and curb stomp it, pointing out all the things that it is oh so woefully lacking, I would appreciate it greatly. Thanks!
Oh, and here's a link the (partial) West Saxon Reference Grammar, as well as one to the Verbal Morphology section
In most analyses, West Saxon has three grammatical tenses (past, present, and future) and three grammatical aspects (Perfective, Imperfective, and Perfect). These two sets of three combine two form 9 tense/aspect combinations. Their formation and uses are as follows:
Present Tenses
Simple Present
This is formed by using the simple present tense form of the verb. It denotes:
*Actions currently being performed
*As a "near future" tense, with appropriate adverbs (soon, tomorrow, etc.)
*Current states of being
*Equivalent of the preterit when used as a "narrative" present describing a past event.
Progressive
This is formed by combining the present tense of the verb beun with the durative participle. It denotes:
*Emphatic progressives, with a sense of "I'm right in the middle of x-ing."
*To express actions done habitually in the present.
*To form "since..." and "for..." style constructions, such as "I've lived in Winchester for 3 years/since 2005."
*Equivalent of the imperfect when using the "narrative" present.
*With adverbs of duration, i.e "Monday, I'm washing the car."
Perfect
The perfect is formed by the present tense form of either beun or han, plus the past participle. Beun is used with intransitive verbs, while han is used with transitive verbs. Its uses are as follows:
* To express that an action has been completed, and that it still has a relevance to the present. It can also sometimes be mixed up with the use of the preterit.
* Occasionally used as an equivalent of the pluperfect when using a "narrative" present, but more often the pluperfect is used instead.
Past Tenses
Preterit
The preterit is formed by using the preterit inflected form of the verb and is used to describe actions in the past which have been completed, and are conceived of as being a single, discreet action. It does not matter how long the action actually takes, so long as the action is considered a complete whole, e.g. "I went to Rome last summer."
Imperfect
The imperfect is formed by combining the preterit form of the verb beun with the durative participle. It is used:
* To say that an action was ongoing while another action is taking place.
* As past tense equivalents of the uses of the Progressive.
Pluperfect
The pluperfect is formed by combining the preterit forms of either beun or han with the past participle. It is used to show that an action has been completed before another action that occurs in the past.
Future Tenses
Simple Future
The future tense is formed either by the inflected future form (for the verb beun) or the inflected future of beun combined with the infinitive (for all other verbs). It is used to denote an action that will take place in the future, and is conceived of as a whole, perfective action. It is basically treated like the preterit, except it will occur after "now," rather than before.
The simple future can also be used as a "gnomic" future, to describe timeless, universal, or general facts. This is a continuation of the semantics of the verb beun, which have existed since the Old West Saxon period.
Future Progressive
The future progressive is formed by combining the inflected future form of beun with the durative participle, and it functions as a future tense equivalent of the imperfect.
Future Perfect
The future perfect is formed by combining the future forms of beun or han with the past participle. It is used to describe a future action that will be completed prior to another action which will also occur in the past, or which will have some impact on some point in the future.
That's it. Now, get curb stompin'! Tell me what you like, what you don't like, what you think could use some more detailed explanation, what leaves you scratching your head going WTF? Once this has been bloodied and beaten, I can then hopefully turn it into the grammatical equivalent of the $6 million man or Robocop. Then I can start talking about things like use of the subjunctive, inchoactive and causative constructions, the weln and scoln futures, and so forth. Vielen Dank!