Version 1.1
Back when I first drafted down some ideas for Diinlang I proposed that there should be two types of verbs. The majority of verbs would be “lexverbs”.
Lexverbs evolved into the verbs that have been encountered in previous posts on this blog. Lexverbs are mainly uninflected. The prefixes “is-”, “ge-” and “isge-” are used with them as are the markers “gon”, “wen” and “dun”. There is still some work to be done with respect to mood, volition and potential but I am happy with the basic system as it now is. The small number of suffixes permit the creation of new but obviously related verbs.
The second type of verbs are called “duoverbs” since they have two basic forms rather than one. Originally auxiliary and modal verbs in Diinlang were duoverbs. Some of these verbs became lexverbs. The role of auxiliary verbs currently seems to be met by the marker and prefix system. Modal verbs will be worked on at a later date.
The second group of duoverbs are what might be termed “verbs of communication”. Verbs that have meanings such as “say/said” or “write/wrote”. Such verbs would see frequent use and there is an obvious economy in using alternate single syllable words rather than multiple words.
Talking of economy, consider a conversation such as:
“So he was like “No way!” and I go “Why not?” And he went all “Don’t ask” and I’m like “Why?” Then he goes crazy!”
Whatever else you may feel about such English, it is certainly fluid!
Of note are the use of the verbs “like” and “go/went” to introduce statements or reactions. Verbs for similar purposes in Diinlang should have equal brevity, versatility and fluidity.
How many duoverbs of communication are needed remains to be seen. As two possible starting candidates I will suggest “la(h)/la(h)t” for “to say” and “riy/riyt” for “to write”. “Tok/tokt” for “to talk” is another possiblity although “tok” is a good onomatopoeic word for a clock. La or Lah is a verb for general communication while riy and tok specify methods. The Portuguese verb “to read” is “ler” and this might make a nice complimentary duoverb to “la(h)/la(h)t”.
As can be seen, duoverbs have two tenses, the past form created regularly by the addition of a terminal “-t” (or possibly -d instead). Tense regarding verbs of communication is interesting. Traditionally in English we would use “I write/am writing to you” (present tense) in a letter, well aware that by the time the reader sees those words our action will be in their past. Nowadays communication by written word is often real time. My inclination is to think of the two tenses of duoverbs as being “past” and “nonpast”. Should you need to use a duoverb in the future tense the lexverb marker “gon” is used. In fact any of the lexverb markers can be uses with duoverbs, the past form being a convenience of economy. “Mi laht..” and “mi wen lah/laht…” all mean “I said…”
Potentially the duoverb system will lead to attempts to form past forms of lexverbs with a -t (or -d). The success of this will depend on the individual euphony of the resultant word. Notably, some versions of Novial allowed the past form of a verb to be formed by either the auxillary verb or a “-d” suffix.
It is quite possible that “gon”, “wen” and “dun” might be used as standalone verbs themselves, serving as contractions of “gon du”, “gon bi” etc. Statement of the actual verb may be unnecessary where the following statement makes it clear that the subject was doing or saying something.
Human communication has undergone considerable change in the last few decades and natural languages have lagged behind in some fields. This must be addressed in Diinlang. To me, “phoning” someone implies vocal communication; talking to someone or at least leaving a message on their voice mail. “Texting” implies a written communication sent between phones. My Brazilian girlfriend considers the term to be more generic and if she promises to “text me” the message is most likely to appear on my computer and may have been sent from either phone or laptop. If an interviewer promises to “write to me” this could mean either email or snail-mail. “I’ll talk to you later” could mean a variety of methods or devices.
Diinlang needs a system that can be specific without losing versatility or brevity. For example “fohnlah” would mean communication by phone without specifying the format. “Fohntok” and “fohnriy” would indicate vocal and text communication by phone.