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Infinitive ending -i

从 zixhwizs, 2009年2月1日

讯息： 11

语言: English

zixhwizs (显示个人资料) 2009年2月1日下午4:27:18

In the dictionaries I've looked at so far (not many), verbs are always represented in the infinitive -i form. I assumed this was just the tense for them, like os, is, and as. But something occurred to me, and I'm not sure why I haven't noticed it before.

Is there a grammatical reason that some non-verbs share the infinitive ending, such as pli, li, ni, or pri.

mccambjd (显示个人资料) 2009年2月1日下午5:12:36

Zamenhof ran out of letters?

The -i ending of pronouns, conjunctions, etc. are not grammatically connected to the infinitive case, I believe.

erinja (显示个人资料) 2009年2月1日下午5:20:01

The grammatical endings of pronouns are not connected to the verb ending -i.

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 (显示个人资料) 2009年2月2日下午5:02:48

erinja:The grammatical endings of pronouns are not connected to the verb ending -i.

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
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?

Rogir (显示个人资料) 2009年2月2日下午7:57:10

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.

ceigered (显示个人资料) 2009年2月3日上午6:12:27

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 (显示个人资料) 2009年2月5日下午10:37:33

Words that end with vowels or very common consonants (e.g. n or s) are also much easier for many people who aren't used to European languages to pronounce.

jchthys (显示个人资料) 2009年2月6日上午1:15:22

Just what hiyayaywhopee said. Like Ido has the infinitives end in r, which I think is kind of hard to pronounced.

ceigered (显示个人资料) 2009年2月6日上午2:03:20

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

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 (显示个人资料) 2009年2月6日上午4:02:27

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.

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