Linguist Forum

Specializations => Typology and Descriptive Linguistics => Topic started by: Formanted on April 18, 2014, 10:02:06 AM

Title: Gerundive - serial verb construction & progressive
Post by: Formanted on April 18, 2014, 10:02:06 AM

Hello fellow language nerds. Seldom have I felt like I have found home more than here!

I am currently analyzing a Tupi-Guaraní language (from the amazons) which seems to reuse their gerundive suffix as a free progressive marker. Have any of you come across something similar?

 It would be like in English saying something like "He jumped inging and disappeared" meaning "He jumped continuously and disappeared" where the normally gerundive suffix -ings (which have a secondary progressive meaning) would be used by itself to express a continuing action.

Regards,

F

Title: Re: Gerundive - serial verb construction & progressive
Post by: Daniel on April 18, 2014, 11:09:14 AM

Hmm. That sounds very interesting. Could you provide an example or two with glosses?

It might just be a free tense/aspect morpheme.