[tied] Re: Germanic preterite optative

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "P&G" <G&P@...> wrote:

>
> > grammaticalization theory suggests that the past is
> >never umarked
>
> I am always deeply suspicious of "never" in linguistics.
> It is remarkably easy to interpret the evidence in a way that
> supports the theory, and managing to show that the form which
> is used for the unmarked past (among other things) is not the
> umarked form in Hebrew/Arabic, is an excellent example.

Can you give the details on the this interpretation?

Note that it is quite common for perfective to be unmarked,
and in languages without tense, but with aspect, the perfective
is typically used to denote the past, at least for non-stative
verbs. Classical Arabic is generally said to fall in this
group (including in Bybee et al). Not knowing Arabic, I cannot
judge this independently.

Nath Rao