The Celtic languages have an unusual feature: inflections suffixed to most simple prepositions used with pronouns. I discuss below: conjugated prepositions in Welsh, and in Irish; conjugated postpositions in the 2 main Uralic languages (Hungarian and Finnish); conjugated adpositions (prepositions or postpositions) in languages around the world. Welsh In Welsh, the suffix forms typically have…… Continue reading Conjugated prepositions in Welsh and Irish (and Hungarian and Finnish)
Tag: Inflection: verbal
Welsh challenge (9)
This post is the 9th instalment of the Welsh leg of my current Celtic challenge. It covers chapter 8 of Colloquial Welsh. This post covers: prepositions (personal forms, temporary states) compulsion telling the time possessive adjectives with verbal nouns some indefinite pronouns form of auxiliary bod (‘be’) after subject question word For earlier instalments, please…… Continue reading Welsh challenge (9)
Irish challenge (8)
This post is the 8th instalment of the Irish leg of my current Celtic challenge. It covers chapter 7 of Teach Yourself Irish. For previous instalments, please see https://languagemiscellany.com/tag/irish/ It covers: asking and telling the time verbs: present tense questions go leor (‘enough, plenty, fairly’) nouns ending in -ín other words and phrases Mutation (lenition…… Continue reading Irish challenge (8)
Russian verbs of motion
In Russian, verbs referring to motion include 14 pairs of verbs. Each of those verbs differs from its pair in a systematic way. Sometimes, the label ‘determinate’ is used for one member of each pair and the name ‘indeterminate’ is use for the other member: the determinate verbs refer to motion in one direction (not…… Continue reading Russian verbs of motion
Language sketch: Esperanto
The artificial language artificial language Esperanto was created by a Polish Doctor Ludovic Zamenhof in 1887. He initially called the language simply la Lingvo Internacia (‘the international language’), but he wrote using the pseudonym Dr Esperanto and Esperanto quickly became the language’s accepted name. Alphabet Esperanto uses a Latin alphabet of 28 letters: 22 letters…… Continue reading Language sketch: Esperanto
Welsh challenge (6)
This post is the 6th instalment of the Welsh leg of my current Celtic challenge. It covers chapter 5 of Colloquial Welsh. For earlier instalments, please see Welsh Archives – Language Miscellany For a few words and phrases, there are differences between north (N) and south (S) Wales.I’ve used bold type below to highlight words…… Continue reading Welsh challenge (6)
The Italian Language Today
The Italian Language Today, by Anna Laura Lepschy and Giulio Lepschy (2nd edition, 1988) is a useful guide for anyone who has been through a basic to intermediate Italian course. The book has 2 parts: part one The Linguistic Situation in Italy has 4 sections: Italian today; a historical view; Italian dialects; varieties of…… Continue reading The Italian Language Today
Irish challenge (5)
This post is the 5th instalment of the Irish leg of my current Celtic challenge. It covers chapter 4 of Teach Yourself Irish. For previous instalments, please see https://languagemiscellany.com/tag/irish/ The demonstrative seo To introduce a person or present a thing, use seo (‘this’) without a verb:Seo Tomás (‘this is Thomas’). In Munster and Connacht, a…… Continue reading Irish challenge (5)
Welsh challenge (3)
This post is the 3rd instalment of the Welsh leg of my current Celtic challenge. It covers chapters 2a and 2b of Colloquial Welsh. For earlier instalments, please see Welsh Archives – Language Miscellany Present tense of bod Table 1 shows the present tense of the verb bod (‘be’), giving the forms used in positive,…… Continue reading Welsh challenge (3)
Suppletive aspectual pairs in Russian
Most Russian verbs are a pair of linked verbs marking one of 2 ‘aspects’: ‘perfective’ or ‘imperfective’. Different aspects are different ways of depicting the event or state described by the verb. Speaking very roughly, the perfective aspect depicts an event or state as a single undivided whole, whereas the imperfective looks inside the event…… Continue reading Suppletive aspectual pairs in Russian