HEBREW TENSES ILLUSTRATED BY THOSE OF OTHER LANGUAGES
TURKISH.
BARKER writes:—"The first tense [i.e., the present] has also a future signification; aidrm is used for 'I do' and 'I will do' equally. It is therefore called aorist [?] by Mr Red- house." The present participle aider, 'doing,' has, Mr Barker says, a future sense also.—Grammar, p. 27, 28.
PERSIAN.
BLEECK writes:—"In narration, when, after a verb in the preterite, a second verb occurs, which in English would also be naturally in a past tense, the Persians employ the present (or aorist), as, 'The young tiger saw that he has not the power of resisting.'
"Similarly, in recounting a conversation, the Persians always make use of a dramatic style, i.e., they report the very words, as, Hattim told her that he would not eat—lit., Hattim said to her thus, I will not eat."—Grammar, p. 79.
SANSCRIT.
WILLIAMS writes:—"Present tense. This tense, besides its proper use, is frequently used for the future; as, 'whether shall [do] I go? when shall [do] I see thee?'
"In narrative it is commonly used for the past tense; as, 'he having touched the ground, touches his ears, and says.' . . . The particle sma, when used with the present, gives it the force of a perfect."—Grammar, p. 198, 199.
GUJARATI.
CLARKSON writes:—"Present [tense expresses] in familiar conversation action as about to take place immediately, 'I am sending [going to send] a servant with you; [also] action originating in past time, and not yet completed, where the English uses the perfect of the auxiliary, 'How many days have you been [are you] studying Gujarati.'
"It is used in narrative of past events, when writing seriatim.
"It expresses future action, which, on account of its certainty, is viewed as present by the speaker, e.g., I go [shall go] this year to Bombay.
"The first future ... is used ... where the English uses the present, especially when preceded by jare, 'when,'—when my brother comes, lit. shall come."—Grammar, p. 73, 74.
HINDUSTANI.
Shakespear writes:—"The past indefinite of a verb seems at times used in a present or future sense. ... The 'present, when celerity in the performance of any enterprise is emphatically denoted, may be used in the sense of the future. ... The indefinite future or aorist may not only convey a present meaning, but it may even be construed with an auxiliary verb as a present participle even."—Grammar, p. 136.
SIAMESE.
LOW writes:—"The present tense of this [indicative] mood is in its nature indefinite, . . . I remain or I will remain; you are not to go yonder, i.e., you will [shall?] not go. ... 'I shot a bird,' as it stands, might be also rendered, 'I shoot a bird.'—Grammar, p. 47.
TELOOGOO.
CAMPBELL writes:—"It is of much importance for the reader to understand that the two forms of the future tense are seldom used the present or the aorist being commonly substituted for them."—Grammar, p. 99.
MALAY.
CRAWFORD writes:—"Time is often left to be inferred from the context, and, indeed, is expressed only when it is indispensable to the sense that it should be specified.
"The tenses, when they must be specified, are formed by auxiliaries, which are either verbs or adverbs."—Grammar, p. 48.
NEW ZEALAND.
WILLIAMS writes:—"The present and perfect, when formed by ka, will generally be distinguished by the sense."—p. 63.
YORUBA.
GROWTHER writes:—"The present and imperfect tenses are both alike; as moh loh, I go, I went; awa de, we return, we returned; o sung, he sleeps, he slept; o joko, thou sittest, thou sattest. ... The present tense, strictly speaking, is more frequently expressed by the sign of the particle ng, and [it] is then understood that the action is not yet past; as a'ng—koh takardah, we are writing a book."—Vocabulary, p. 16.
