LIMBAWA ... Chapter 1

Tense and Aspect

DONO = to walk

DONARI = I walked

DONARLI = I was walking

DONARWI = I used to walk

DONARTI = I had walked

DONARA = I am walking

DONARWA = I walk

DONARTA = I have walked

Note ... There is no form DONARLA

Note ... The form DONARWA is used if you habitually walk in the past, the present and there is no reason to suppose that you will not do so in the future. It doesn't imply that you are actually walking at the speech-act-time

DONARU = I will walk

DONARLU = I will be walking

DONARWU = I will walk

DONARTU = I will have walked

Note ... The form DONARU is used if the act of walking is just a one off ... for example in answer to the question "how are you going to the supermarket". But suppose that you had just moved house and the question "how will you get to the supermarket" is envisioning many instances of "walking" ... then the proper response would be DONARWU.

DONAR = I walk

Note that in translating "I walk" from English you have a choice of DONARWA or DONAR. Generally the "-RWA" form should be used if your possible walking time is interspersed with periods of non-walking. This form mean "sometimes I walk, and sometimes I choose not to walk". Or it can mean "I usually walk".

Note ... if you say "I walk to church every Sunday" you have a choice of...

1) using DONARWA and dropping the Limbawa equivalent to "every".

2) using DONAR and using the Limbawa equivalent to "every".

1) implies that you ONLY go on Sunday

2) leaves open the possibility that you go to church on other days of the week also.

The "-R" form is used to present general truths. For example, in says "birds fly", you would use the "-R" form.

So we have 12 different forms for tense and aspect.