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A community for the dragon language of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Tenses in Dovahzul

 1 

Crotha
November 10, 2013

Hello =)

After a bit of thorough reading the "learning dovahzul" guide - which is really great, btw. - the tenses stood me up a bit: There are some missing.

Simple tense: zu'u krif dovahhe.
Simple past: zu'u (drey) krif dovahhe.
simple future: zu'u (fen) krif(iin) dovahhe. (one of the two brackets)
progressive present: zu'u (los) krif(von) dovahhe. (one of the two brackets or none)
simple perfect present: zu'u (lost) krif(aan) dovahhe. (one of the two brackets)
progressive perfect present: zu'u kosaan krif dovahhe.
simple progressive future: zu'u (fen) kos(iin) krif dovahhe. (one of the two brackets)
progressive past: zu'u lost krif dovahhe.

Would the simple past perfect be equally to present perfect be:
zu'u krifaan dovahhe. / Zu'u lost krif dovahhe. - The same as the simple perfect present? (seeing as present as past is the same)
(meaning: I had fought dragons)

Also, Progressive perfect past: "I had been fighting dragons"
Zu'u kosaan krif dovahhe. - also equally have been/had been of kosaan? 

Future Perfect: Zu'u fen krifaan dovahhe (I will have fought dragons) - equally to perfect present but adding "fen" to indicate the "to will" of the future?

Progressive Future Perfect: Zu'u fen kosaan krif dovahhe. (I will have been fighting dragons) - like above.

Would this be correct?

Granted, Future perfect and progr. future perfect are rarely used, the others two are also not that common, but still: I think they should be added to the learning guide, at least to cover all of them.

Well, thanks for your help.
Hopefully not too many mistakes in here (both the dovahzul and the english part :D)

Lg

by Crotha
November 10, 2013

Hello =)

After a bit of thorough reading the "learning dovahzul" guide - which is really great, btw. - the tenses stood me up a bit: There are some missing.

Simple tense: zu'u krif dovahhe.
Simple past: zu'u (drey) krif dovahhe.
simple future: zu'u (fen) krif(iin) dovahhe. (one of the two brackets)
progressive present: zu'u (los) krif(von) dovahhe. (one of the two brackets or none)
simple perfect present: zu'u (lost) krif(aan) dovahhe. (one of the two brackets)
progressive perfect present: zu'u kosaan krif dovahhe.
simple progressive future: zu'u (fen) kos(iin) krif dovahhe. (one of the two brackets)
progressive past: zu'u lost krif dovahhe.

Would the simple past perfect be equally to present perfect be:
zu'u krifaan dovahhe. / Zu'u lost krif dovahhe. - The same as the simple perfect present? (seeing as present as past is the same)
(meaning: I had fought dragons)

Also, Progressive perfect past: "I had been fighting dragons"
Zu'u kosaan krif dovahhe. - also equally have been/had been of kosaan? 

Future Perfect: Zu'u fen krifaan dovahhe (I will have fought dragons) - equally to perfect present but adding "fen" to indicate the "to will" of the future?

Progressive Future Perfect: Zu'u fen kosaan krif dovahhe. (I will have been fighting dragons) - like above.

Would this be correct?

Granted, Future perfect and progr. future perfect are rarely used, the others two are also not that common, but still: I think they should be added to the learning guide, at least to cover all of them.

Well, thanks for your help.
Hopefully not too many mistakes in here (both the dovahzul and the english part :D)

Lg


paarthurnax
Administrator
November 10, 2013

Nice writeup! I would say that simple past perfect would probably be better expressed as "Zu'u lost krif dovahhe" rather than with the "-aan" suffix. Progressive perfect past might also be better as "Zu'u lost kos krif dovahhe".

Future perfect tense gets very interesting! "Zu'u fen lost krif dovahhe" is one way you can say it. But, I think you could also use both the "-aan" and "-iin" suffixes like so: "Zu'u krifaaniin dovahhe", thus making "will have fought".

by paarthurnax
November 10, 2013

Nice writeup! I would say that simple past perfect would probably be better expressed as "Zu'u lost krif dovahhe" rather than with the "-aan" suffix. Progressive perfect past might also be better as "Zu'u lost kos krif dovahhe".

Future perfect tense gets very interesting! "Zu'u fen lost krif dovahhe" is one way you can say it. But, I think you could also use both the "-aan" and "-iin" suffixes like so: "Zu'u krifaaniin dovahhe", thus making "will have fought".


Crotha
November 10, 2013

Thanks =)
Using both suffixes for future perfect, i don't know - it seems a but too much? 
On the other hand, this tense is so unusual (i mean, really, where do you use it except in school? xD) - It's got to be special :)

For past perfect i thought also of both to be used, identical to the present perfect. I just stuck with the suffixes because they were the examples in the "learning dovahzul"-guide :)
In my opinion, "lost" and "lost kos" are nicer to use than "-aan" and "kosaan" - but I think thats more of a personal choice rather than something profound. 


When I get some time, I will write a summary of the tenses - they have been my problem in english ever since - so I need one. Maybe this is interesting for the "learning dovahzul" guide also?
Or maybe some...I don't know, grammatical summary of some sort - a "quick guide" so to say... I have to think about it.

by Crotha
November 10, 2013

Thanks =)
Using both suffixes for future perfect, i don't know - it seems a but too much? 
On the other hand, this tense is so unusual (i mean, really, where do you use it except in school? xD) - It's got to be special :)

For past perfect i thought also of both to be used, identical to the present perfect. I just stuck with the suffixes because they were the examples in the "learning dovahzul"-guide :)
In my opinion, "lost" and "lost kos" are nicer to use than "-aan" and "kosaan" - but I think thats more of a personal choice rather than something profound. 


When I get some time, I will write a summary of the tenses - they have been my problem in english ever since - so I need one. Maybe this is interesting for the "learning dovahzul" guide also?
Or maybe some...I don't know, grammatical summary of some sort - a "quick guide" so to say... I have to think about it.


Squeegy
November 10, 2013

Speaking of the past, I didn't see a past participle in there. Is an equivalent to the -ed suffix missing? I ask because it can be used as simple past tense but can also turn verbs into adjectives.

by Squeegy
November 10, 2013

Speaking of the past, I didn't see a past participle in there. Is an equivalent to the -ed suffix missing? I ask because it can be used as simple past tense but can also turn verbs into adjectives.


paarthurnax
Administrator
November 10, 2013
Squeegy

Speaking of the past, I didn't see a past participle in there. Is an equivalent to the -ed suffix missing? I ask because it can be used as simple past tense but can also turn verbs into adjectives.

One of Dovahzul's unique qualities is the lack of distinction between the present and simple past tenses. However, we've been using "-aan" to turn verbs into adjectives like you're mentioning.

by paarthurnax
November 10, 2013
Squeegy

Speaking of the past, I didn't see a past participle in there. Is an equivalent to the -ed suffix missing? I ask because it can be used as simple past tense but can also turn verbs into adjectives.

One of Dovahzul's unique qualities is the lack of distinction between the present and simple past tenses. However, we've been using "-aan" to turn verbs into adjectives like you're mentioning.


Squeegy
November 10, 2013
paarthurnax
Squeegy

Speaking of the past, I didn't see a past participle in there. Is an equivalent to the -ed suffix missing? I ask because it can be used as simple past tense but can also turn verbs into adjectives.

One of Dovahzul's unique qualities is the lack of distinction between the present and simple past tenses. However, we've been using "-aan" to turn verbs into adjectives like you're mentioning.

So I read in the PDF, but thanks, "aan" is probably good enough.

by Squeegy
November 10, 2013
paarthurnax
Squeegy

Speaking of the past, I didn't see a past participle in there. Is an equivalent to the -ed suffix missing? I ask because it can be used as simple past tense but can also turn verbs into adjectives.

One of Dovahzul's unique qualities is the lack of distinction between the present and simple past tenses. However, we've been using "-aan" to turn verbs into adjectives like you're mentioning.

So I read in the PDF, but thanks, "aan" is probably good enough.

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