Questions tagged [verbs]
Part of speech whose members indicate an action or a state of being.
3
votes
1answer
86 views
Why a verb “to be” has a lot forms
I really can't understand why this verb changes to "am", "is", etc. The common answer is "just became as historical legacy", but how actually it happend?
4
votes
1answer
96 views
What kind of verbs take three arguments?
"The man paints the wall red".
The verb to paint can take three arguments, the object, the subject and the colour of the paint. What kind of verb is this?
"The man colours the paper blue".
I think ...
2
votes
1answer
42 views
Indexing outside of NP
I am familiar with indexing and co-indexing NP's but I've come across indexing that looks like this:
"Gregory(i) seems to enjoy (ti) Marvel Films." Does the (ti) indicate some kind of movement? ...
0
votes
1answer
44 views
How to understand semelfactive aspect of a verb? How is it varied/similar to iterative aspect?
How semelfactive aspect of a verb that represents a single occasion of an event like knock,hit etc..is perfective and moment defined.
whereas,iterative aspect is event that is repeated on single ...
7
votes
1answer
83 views
Name for a verb form meaning “feign or pretend to do sth”
Is there an accepted name for a derivational process applied to a verb which conveys the meaning "feign or pretend to do sth".
As a corollary, is anyone aware of any languages (especially non-...
1
vote
1answer
146 views
Does each verb have a corresponding noun with the same meaning
I believe that each main verb has (at least) one corresponding noun with the same meaning that is formed from gerund and derivation. For examples, discovery is from discover; reading is from read; ...
1
vote
1answer
63 views
If you can use nouns as verbs for different languages
Along the same lines of If you can use Chinese nouns as verbs, or vice versa, I am wondering if you can treat nouns as verbs or verbs as nouns in languages such as these:
Inuktitut
Hebrew
Japanese
...
8
votes
2answers
310 views
Do most languages have the same basic verb tenses?
I am a student learning languages who is interested in linguistics! In trying to keep myself organized with my own study sheets, I wanted to know, do all languages have the same basic verb tenses? I'm ...
0
votes
0answers
18 views
Cross-linguistic study of distribution of number of verbal arguments
I think I remember reading once that cross linguistically, at least in "normal" spoken or written language, verbs almost never take more than ~4-5 obligatory arguments. This seems to be true in my ...
2
votes
1answer
47 views
Where can I find an analysis of the semantic overlap of English “to have” and “with”?
For years I've understood via my native speaker intuition and my interest in languages and linguistics that the preposition "with" can carry the semantic meaning of the verb "to have".
The man who ...
-2
votes
2answers
77 views
Why some verbs have -tion while others don't, when being nounified
Verbs like animate become a noun animation, and others like graduate become graduation. But then there are verbs that are just straight converted into nouns, like capture the verb and a capture the ...
-1
votes
1answer
51 views
The most different meanings a verb has been found to have
After considering How we can use the same word in multiple different ways and distinguish it so easily, I'm wondering now how complex it can get. I'm wondering what an example is from any language ...
1
vote
3answers
120 views
How Nesting Verbs Works (and if it is Even Possible)
Wondering the different ways you can nest verbs, and what is technically allowed from a mental perspective, not necessarily from a grammatical perspective b/c I imagine it would vary significantly ...
7
votes
3answers
172 views
Is there a language where another verb form is simpler/more basic than the imperative?
Imperative tends to be the simplest verb form, cf. Latin dic, fac. English is not very inflecting, so other verb forms can be just as simple as the imperative. Nevertheless, is there a language, where ...
0
votes
2answers
109 views
Stolen, part of speech
I've checked several dictionaries for the word "stolen" only to find it labeled a verb. Virtually all of the examples sentences use it in a manner that I would have considered an adjective:
"The ...
1
vote
2answers
85 views
Is there a language where semantic aspect determines which tense is unmarked in a verb?
For every language there is a tense that is morphologically closest to the root, e.g. English present is more basic than perfect since perfect either adds a suffix -(e)d or has ablaut as tense marker. ...
1
vote
0answers
46 views
Resource for getting agentive noun from verb automatically
I am trying to get (in some automated fashion) the agentive noun of a given verb. For instance we have
buy, buyer
sell, seller
invest, investor
I was wondering whether there is some resource that ...
2
votes
3answers
4k views
What is the past tense of 'yeet'?
Yeet (/ji:t/) is a recently coined verb in English that seems to have taken on the characteristics of a strong verb, as seen in this hilarious urban dictionary definition.
In English, the strong ...
0
votes
1answer
149 views
Why is there not passive imperative? [closed]
It doesn’t exist. I have the proof. Look. It’s missing.
1
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0answers
47 views
English verbs requiring PP
Are there a set of English verbs that require a prepositional phrase? For example:
"The set consists of A and B." = GOOD
"The set consists" = BAD
Is there a name for this type of verb? They seem to ...
5
votes
1answer
76 views
(A)Telicity & Events
Dowty's (1979) classified predicates into:
1. States 'the woord is burning' ---Atelic
2. Activities 'Mary pushed the cart' ---Atelic
3. Accomplishments 'Mary melted the chocolate' ---Telic
4. ...
4
votes
3answers
193 views
Is there any language where the past tense is the base form of a verb?
The fictional language Flaidish has this feature. But I recently found out about a natural language (Mixtec) where the present isn't the base form of a verb, its the future tense.
I found this ...
1
vote
3answers
103 views
What functional motivations are there for the choice of light verb constructions over full verbs?
I am doing a reasearch on light verbs and wondered if anyone could give some opinions on why people tend to use light verb cosntructions, such as "take a shower", "make a decision" etc., over the ...
2
votes
1answer
84 views
Is there a language in which personal suffix precedes the temporal suffix in conjugation?
A fictional example:
zelun (zel- (verb stem: "to make leather") + u (personal suffix, 3rd person sg.) + n (temporal suffix, present))
vs. zelud (u (3rd sg.) + d (preterite))
zelun = "He/She/It is ...
5
votes
1answer
116 views
What is the concept of verb agreement with passive-active level in Hebrew?
In this Duolingo discussion, 'S.Liebermann' mentions that in Hebrew and Arabic, "the verb needs to agree with the level of passive/active" and "Hebrew has 7 degrees of passive/active, while Arabic has ...
0
votes
1answer
109 views
Periphrastic verb forms in Gothic
What periphrastic verb form are attested in the Gothic language, the oldest Germanic language we have substantial records from?
Skimming through a grammar of Gothic I found that for the past tense ...
-1
votes
3answers
205 views
Is there a natural language that doesn’t use an action verb to describe death?
English uses “activity” verbs such as the verb “to be” to describe that a person is dead, as in “He is dead,” or “He died.” Is there a language that doesn’t do this?
I know that some languages have ...
3
votes
1answer
64 views
Are copulas object/complement heads? P&P & LFG
In P&P, I assume that 'be' occupies the head of VP as P&P doesn't allow for empty heads. From that I assume that copulas head objects/complements in the same way that a lexical verb would?
In ...
1
vote
0answers
63 views
Does a main verb undergo inversion in “Has he any shame?”
My undergraduate textbook builds a case to posit separate classes of verbs as lexical, auxiliary, modal in nature. One criterion is how auxiliary and modals (unlike main verbs) undergo inversion but ...
1
vote
0answers
40 views
When was the concept of verbs' principal parts codified, and by whom?
For example, I'm wondering whether the Greek/Roman grammarians already wrote about six/four basic forms based on which a Greek/Latin verb can be conjugated in all its forms.
If they did, did they ...
3
votes
1answer
77 views
Romance-like pronominal verbs elsewhere
Romance languages are known to have lots of so-called pronominal verbs, which are always conjugated with a reflexive pronoun even though the action is not actually reflexive: for example, Spanish irse,...
1
vote
1answer
71 views
Is there a term for an adjective or noun becoming a verb, like “to adult”?
Is there a term for a word that is traditionally an adjective or noun becoming a verb over time? A word I'm thinking of is "adult", which Merriam-Webster has reported has become increasingly used as a ...
2
votes
0answers
29 views
What explains the semantic sameness in 'Verb + preposition + Direct Object' and 'Verb + Direct Object'?
Why can prepositions following a verb not affect the meaning of Verb Phrases that differ by only a preposition? I.e., what explains the semantic sameness between Verb Phrases that differ by only a ...
6
votes
0answers
192 views
Are there any languages that either effectively don't have verbs or that somehow get around using a “standard” verb system?
By this, I'm asking whether there are languages (natural or constructed) which somehow function without verbs, relying instead upon other types of words like prepositions or something like that.
...
3
votes
2answers
170 views
Verb pairs similar to “buy” and “sell”?
"buy" and "sell" that are basically the same action/event, but reverse arguments (subject of one, the object of the other):
X sold his car to Y.
Y bought a car from X.
Is there a any special name ...
4
votes
1answer
79 views
Why use “être” with pronominal verbs in complex tenses in french?
While some verbs in french with intransitive sense use "être" for complex tenses (Je suis entré), other verbs with transitive sense use "avoir" to show subject-object relations: Je les ai vus. ("Je" - ...
6
votes
1answer
217 views
Why is the verb “to need” and “to observe” always imperfective in Slavic languages?
I have been reading into Balto-Slavic languages and come across a problem. "To need" is always imperfective.
If I use the imperfective past verb, "to need," I am going to be still, presently needing ...
2
votes
1answer
471 views
How can the perfective aspect apply to the present tense?
The perfective aspect is makes it so that the verb is viewed "outside" the verb, while imperfective verbs have an internal view into the verb.
This makes sense for past tense verbs, in order to view ...
3
votes
2answers
218 views
Tenses, voices, moods, and what else?
John sings the hymn. John sang the hymn.
John sang the hymn. The hymn was sung by John.
It is important that John is at the meeting. (This presupposes that he is and says that is ...
2
votes
2answers
409 views
Why does 'seem' behave differently?
Mary seems[ t to be here]
Mary tried [PRO to be here]
Why can't Mary be generated in spec VP of 'seems' but can in 'tried'?
Instead it looks like it works more like a passive verb:
Mary is believed ...
2
votes
3answers
134 views
How do we explain the fact that agreement comes from the object with 'there'?
For example:
There is a man.
There are men.
How do we explain that agreement of the verb comes from the object in this case alone? What movement happens in the verb complex of the xbar tree of the ...
1
vote
1answer
88 views
How to know whether a word is context appropriate? [closed]
So as we all know in both Englisch und Deutsch there are many nouns/verbs that either mean the same or close to the same as eachother, but are chosen based on the context (ex: damp, moist, soggy, etc.....
1
vote
2answers
477 views
What languages have a Perfect Imperative and what is the meaning of such a tense-mood combination?
I self-studied Greek long ago, and I found this Perfect Imperative. Now all the Greek grammars I looked at just throw it at you, expecting you to either completely ignore or downright not have what ...
5
votes
4answers
3k views
Is a language possible without verbs or without nouns?
Is a language without nouns possible? And another one without verbs?
And other ones without adjectives or adverbs?
Is there some real examples? (In preference: non-constructed languages, because ...
1
vote
1answer
364 views
Do-So Tests for VPs and PPs
How will a Do-So test help in identifying if a PP is an adjunct or complement to the verb? Example : I ran to work. I need two pieces of evidence to prove the status of PP in a sentence.
2
votes
0answers
49 views
Why do so many grammars divide a clause into Subject and Verb instead of Subject and Predicative?
I used to start learning a few languages, admittingly my interest ,stamina and brain force didn't last for more than a couple of days each.
Nethertheless, I noticed , that the different grammars ...
0
votes
1answer
91 views
Do other languages than English have verbals ,too?
As I understand it, verbals are nouns,adjectives and adverbs which are derived from verbs.
I don't understand if a verbal is indeed one of the three parts of speeches mentioned or a part of speech of ...
2
votes
0answers
54 views
Why can the Internal Argument of “Matter” NOT Raise?
The internal arguments of unaccusative verbs in English must raise to subject position to obtain case and satisfy the EPP. For example, verbs like melt, fall, die, arrive, etc.must have their internal ...
1
vote
1answer
166 views
Lithuanian possessive perfect
Can someone explain what exactly the 'possessive perfect' is? The book I read gave the following example:
Turiu atsinešęs maisto.
have:PRS.1SG bring:PTCP.PST.ACT.NOM.SG....
1
vote
1answer
55 views
English sentence patterns or verbs in the order of the degree of introduction
I've been wondering if there is any classification, academically established or researched, of verbs or sentence forms that introduce new referents, with the forms/verbs enumerated in the order of the ...
