Periphrastic Future (fwd)

Nick Enfield linnje at LURE.LATROBE.EDU.AU
Tue Apr 23 23:54:06 UTC 1996


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 24 Apr 1996 09:47:27 +1000
From: linnje at LURE.LATROBE.EDU.AU
To: FunkNet Mailboard <funknet at ricevm1.rice.edu>
Cc: Nick Enfield <linnje at LURE.LATROBE.EDU.AU>
Subject: Periphrastic Future

Perhaps a more well-known example is the Sanskrit periphrastic future,
formed with a nominalising "agentive suffix" (tr), and the verb "to be".
Thus, "he goes" becomes "he is a go-er".  Cf. any Sanskrit grammar.
Hindustani now uses a form "wala" ('person, agent') with the infinitive
form of the verb, and the verb 'to be' (although this might not be quite
what you were after).
Thus,

bas aa-yaa    hai       "The bus has come."
bus come-PAST be(3sg)

bas aa-na    waalaa       hai           "The bus is about to come."
bus come-INF person/do-er be (3sg)

The Hindi form is restricted to immediate future ("about to V").

Cheers,

Nick Enfield
Melbourne



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