> And BTW, if one stem can be exchanged for another in the 3sg pret
> hi-conjugation, then the same must go for stems extended with
> *-eh1 (stative) and *-ax (factitive, but once ingressive, according
> to Jasanoff). That would explain the Baltic 3pers preterites from
> *-e: and *-a: (and eventually the Slavic participal preterite too).
>
Classical Armenian
from
http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/armol-1-R.html
"
Matthew 5:1-16.
1 - Ew teseal zzhol'ovurdsn el i learrn. ew ibrew nstaw and`
matean arr na ashakertk' nora
* ew -- conjunction; <ew> and; even, also, too
-- And
* teseal -- past participle;
nominative singular of <tesanem> I see
-- seeing
* zzhol'ovurdsn -- direct object marker <z->... + noun;
accusative plural of <zhol'ovurd> multitude +
demonstrative suffix <-n> that, that over there, the
-- the multitudes
* el -- verb; 3rd singular aorist of <elanem> I come, go up
-- he went up
* i -- preposition;
<i> to, in(to), upon; at, under; from, out of, away from;
from among; by, through the agency of
-- onto
* learrn -- noun; accusative singular of <learrn> mountain
-- a mountain
* ew -- conjunction; <ew> and; even, also, too
-- and
* ibrew -- conjunction; <ibrew> when
-- when
* nstaw -- verb; 3rd singular aorist mediopassive of <nstim> I sit
-- he was set
* and -- adverb; <and> there
-- ...
* matean -- verb;
3rd plural aorist mediopassive of <match'im> I approach
-- came
* arr -- preposition; <arr> to, toward (a person);
beside; in the time of; in addition to
-- unto
* na -- pronoun; accusative singular of <na> he, she, it
-- him
* ashakertk' -- noun;
nominative plural of <ashakert> student, disciple
-- disciples
* nora -- pronoun; genitive singular of <na> he, she, it -- his
2 - Ew bats'eal zberan iwr usuts'anér znosa ew asér.
* ew -- conjunction; <ew> and; even, also, too
-- And
* bats'eal -- past participle; nominative singular of <banam> I open
-- he opened
* zberan -- direct object marker <z->... + noun;
accusative singular of <beran> mouth
-- mouth
* iwr -- reflexive pronoun;
genitive singular of <iwr> him-, her-, it-self
-- his
* usuts'anér -- verb;
3rd singular imperfect of <usuts'anem> I teach
-- taught
* znosa -- direct object marker <z->... + pronoun;
accusative plural of <na> he, she, it
-- them
* ew -- conjunction; <ew> and; even, also, too
-- and
* asér -- verb; 3rd singular imperfect of <asem> I say
-- saying
"
Note the use of the past paticiple in -l: it is used in
infinite constructions together with finite verbs:
teseal "having seen"
el (aorist, not a participle!) "he went up"
batseal "having opened" (his mouth)
usuts'anér (imperfect) "he taught"
A subject of the participle is in the genitive
Orots' ekeal ... "their having arrived ..."
ie. "when they had arrived"
One could imagine something similar for a stage preceding
Proto-Slavic in conversations about subjects in the past,
l-participles used exclusively for dependent non-finite
constructions, with aorist or imperfect in the main verb.
(This would correspond to the original state of affairs
in Finno-Ugric languages). Something like
'ego pris^el padU' "when he came, he fell"
(my apologies for this non-existent Slavic dialect, I hope
the intention is clear)
There is a general tendency for constructions with oblique
cases to turn into nominative constructions, cf English
methinks etc. So, later
'on pris^el padU' "when he came, he fell"
With the (new?) concept of subordinate sentences, this was felt
to be two sentences with two finite verbs.
One day people decided they didn't need other past tenses
'on pris^el i padal'
I think that is also the origin of the PIE mi-conjugation (but
not restricted to past tenses this time). The secondary endings
*-m (< *n,W), *-s, *-t are deictic particles used as suffixes
to to the verb stem, which is a participle. In the same manner
these forms came to be seen as finite, and squeezed out the
original hi-conjugation (especially when adding -i, forming
a 'locativic present continuous' the same way as many other
languages (Engl. 'he was on hunting' -> '... a-hunting')).
Torsten