Re: mi na nu'o catra ko'a

[jorge@PHYAST.PITT.EDU]

la kris cusku di'e

> It's my understanding that when we say "mi catra ko'a", the tense is left
> vague or to context,

I always interpret a tensless sentence as "ca'a", and if the time is needed
for it to make sense as "ca". I know that the usual claim is that any tense
can be meant, but as you point out, allowing it to mean "ka'e" and company
doesn't make much sense.

It's funny what {na nu'o} ends up meaning. I agree that {nu'o} is equivalent
to {ka'e jenai puca'a} and similarly, {pu'i} is {ka'e je puca'a}. I don't
really understand why they are part of the language. They seem to be possible
translations of "could", but they don't seem that useful to me to have a
special word.

Jorge