Ein upprunafrøðilig tilhugsan: An ethymological hypothesis

Abstract

Úrtak

Við støði í nútíðarføroyskari og fornari málnýtslu verður her hildið upp á, at
● á frumkendum málstigi (upprunaligum og hjá børnum) varð og verður tátíðarleiki nýttur umframt til at siga, hvat ið hevur hent, eisini hvat ið kann hugsast,
● í indogermanskum má rótorðamerkingin í “null-stiginum” (3. avljóða stigi) vera eldri enn í “e-” og “o-stigininum” og hevur helst onkursvegna havt tá tíðarligt ella liðið (perfektivt) innihald,
● rótorð (etymon) úr “null-stigi” eru upphavligari enn røtur úr hinum báðum stigunum.

Abstract

It is a fact that
1) children use the past tense to describe non-factual things when playing.
2) with small children the expression “yesterday” and the non-factual seems to be one and the same.
3) modal auxiliaries use the ancient forms of the past tense to express the present.
4) the conditional was a) in Old Norse phrased as the subjunctive in the past tense, and is b) in modern Faroese expressed in the past indicative.
5) unreality, the imaginary, is in modern Faroese expressed in the past indicative.

It is here argued that
6) in primitive languages (ancient and children’s languages) the past or perfect forms were – and still are – used to express the imagined as well as to express what has happened.
7) In Proto-Indo-European the form of a word in zerograde must be older than forms in “e-“ and “ogrades,” and has in some way expressed a past or perfect sense.
8) Etymones from zero-grade are older than those from the other two grades.