Berichten: 11
Taal: English
zixhwizs (Profiel tonen) 1 februari 2009 16:27:18
Is there a grammatical reason that some non-verbs share the infinitive ending, such as pli, li, ni, or pri.
mccambjd (Profiel tonen) 1 februari 2009 17:12:36
The -i ending of pronouns, conjunctions, etc. are not grammatically connected to the infinitive case, I believe.
erinja (Profiel tonen) 1 februari 2009 17:20:01
He wanted to end pronouns with a vowel, so that you could properly apply grammatical endings; and all vowels were already taken for other uses, so he had no choice but to double up.
-a adjective
-e adverb
-i infinitive verb
-o noun
-u imperative verb
ceigered (Profiel tonen) 2 februari 2009 17:02:48
erinja:The grammatical endings of pronouns are not connected to the verb ending -i.What's the reasoning for ending every major thing with a vowel? I would have thought a syllable would have been easier to recognise than a vowel (e.g. -ment ('mong') in French, 'to' infinitive in English - by no means are these regular but at least they're easier to recognise in quicker speech when vowels can be slurred and stress can lose its impact). Is it just that Zamenhoff decided that would be easiest to remember + learn (not necessarily recognise) at the time?
He wanted to end pronouns with a vowel, so that you could properly apply grammatical endings; and all vowels were already taken for other uses, so he had no choice but to double up.
-a adjective
-e adverb
-i infinitive verb
-o noun
-u imperative verb
Rogir (Profiel tonen) 2 februari 2009 19:57:10
ceigered (Profiel tonen) 3 februari 2009 06:12:27
Rogir:Not everything ends with a vowel: most of the verb forms don't. Nouns and adjectives have to end in vowels to allow for easy endings, and adverbs then get a vowel so they can be easily made from nouns/adjectives. Besides, final vowels are less likely to be lost in pronunciation.Ah ok, I see where you're coming from, cheers for that Rogir!
hiyayaywhopee (Profiel tonen) 5 februari 2009 22:37:33
jchthys (Profiel tonen) 6 februari 2009 01:15:22
ceigered (Profiel tonen) 6 februari 2009 02:03:20
jchthys:Just what hiyayaywhopee said. Like Ido has the infinitives end in r, which I think is kind of hard to pronounced.Well with practice it's easy, but then again who wants to practice?
![rido.gif](/images/smileys/rido.gif)
Oh well I finally have some understanding of this, before it was just a big mystery of 'why did he do this that way' etc.
ILuvEire (Profiel tonen) 6 februari 2009 04:02:27
jchthys:Just what hiyayaywhopee said. Like Ido has the infinitives end in r, which I think is kind of hard to pronounced.I agree. When I speak Spanish I drop the -r. Tomar -> toma.