Discussion Details
| Title: | Welsh-Hindi link |
| Submitter: | Steve Hewitt |
| Description: | Posting again, without unreadable diacritics:
Parallel evolution of the TAM values of verb forms/constructions in Welsh and Hindi Steve Hewitt, s.hewitt@unesco.org While the similarity of Welsh and Hindi/Urdu prosody is probably an amusing coincidence, of rather more serious interest to typologists are the striking parallels in the evolution of the tense/aspect/mode (TAM) values of verb forms and verbal constructions in both languages. In the examples below, form 1 is present/future in Classical Welsh, and an ordinary present in Old Hindi. It becomes a simple future in Modern Colloquial Welsh, and a present subjunctive in Modern Hindi/Urdu. Construction 2 is specifically a progressive in both Classical Welsh and Old Hindi. It becomes a general imperfective present in both Modern Colloquial Welsh and Modern Hindi/Urdu. Both Modern Colloquial Welsh and Modern Hindi/Urdu have evolved a third, expanded construction (3b: Welsh “I am at her, doing”; Hindi/Urdu “I have stayed do”) to express what is specifically progressive. 1 = simple tense form 2 = progressive-like construction: first progressive, then general imperfective 3 = expanded progressive construction (later periods only) a = Classical Welsh, Old Hindi b = Modern Colloquial Welsh, Modern Hindi/Urdu AFF = affirmative tense particle F = feminine FUT = future IMPFV = imperfective PFV = perfective PRES = present PROG = progressive SG = singular SUBJ = subjunctive VN = verbal noun Classical Welsh (1a) siarad-af speak-PRES/FUT.1.SG I speak / I will speak (2a) yr wyf yn siarad AFF be. PRES.1.SG in speak.VN I am speaking Old Hindi (1a) bool-uuN speak-PRES.1.SG I speak (2a) bool-taa huuN speak-PROG be.PRES.1.SG I am speaking Modern Colloquial Welsh (1b) siarad-a i speak-FUT.1.SG I I will speak (2b) rw i ’n siarad be.PRES.1.SG I in speak.VN I speak / I am speaking (3b) rw i wrth-i ’n siarad be.PRES.1.SG I at-3.F.SG in speak.VN I am speaking (right now) Modern Hindi/Urdu (1b) bool-uuN speak-SUBJ.1.SG [that] I [may/should] speak (2b) bool-taa huuN speak-IPFV be.PRES.1.SG I speak / I am speaking (3b) bool rah-aa huuN speak stay-PFV be.PRES.1.SG I am speaking (right now) |
| Date Posted: | 24-Mar-2005 |
| Linguistic Field(s): | Typology |
| Language Specialty: |
Hindi
Welsh |
| LL Issue: | 16.895 |
| Posted: | 24-Mar-2005 |
