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Unfulfilled Conditions in Shenoute's Dialect

1969; American Oriental Society; Volume: 89; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/596521

2169-2289

Dwight W. Young,

Historical Linguistics and Language Studies

Unfulfilled conditions introduced by ene may have either a nominal, existential or verbal sentence in the protasis. In Shenoute's works a compound protasis usually entails repetition of ene. When the actor expression is extraposed, enere precedes it even though ene follows. Whenever the protasis consists of a verbal sentence, only one of two tenses (Present or Perfect) is employed, so that the contrast between durative and non-durative is conveyed (Rarely the First Future occurs as an extension of the Present). Negation of the tenses can be achieved by substituting nsabl ge for ene or by utilizing the appropriate negating morphs, with no difference in meaning. The contrast between First and Second Perfects, although not available in ene clauses, is found with nsabl &e. When editing Besa's works, Kuhn wrongly interpreted ene clauses in a quotation from Shenoute as questions. The first member of the compound apodosis, which normally would have consisted of the preterite converter ne plus Future I, is devoid of ne. A detailed analysis of the passage clearly indicates, nevertheless, that it must be regarded as a principal clause in the apodosis of an unfulfilled condition. At least one more example of this colloquialism exists in Shenoute's works.