Re: IE finite verb forms as non-finite ones

From: Rick McCallister
Message: 67285
Date: 2011-03-28


Agreed. Latin does often seem odd form the perspective of modern Western European languages with its lack of clause markers and other things but (thinking via Spanish) I'm reading ascribam as a subjunctive or something similar

From: G&P <G.and.P@...>
To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Mon, March 28, 2011 4:00:17 AM
Subject: RE: [tied] IE finite verb forms as non-finite ones

 

Tac. Germ. 46
'Peucinorum Venethorumque et Fennorum nationes Germanis an Sarmatis ascribam
dubito'.
"I am in doubt whether to ascribe the nations of Peucini, Veneti and Fenni
to the Germani or to the Sarmatae".

Torsten suggests: "The phrase before 'dubito' would traditionally be
analyzed as a dependent clause serving as object of dubito; one could
instead understand the finite (subjunctive 1sg pres.) verb form 'ascribam'
as a finite, but inflected one (participle, 1sg pres.).

I suspect Torsten may wish to reword that. It makes no sense, and perhaps
he has not expressed his real meaning. (And I can't work out what that
would be.)

The traditional interpretation of the Latin is unavoidable.
Peter