2.3.1.2. Order of auxiliaries (i.e. agreement, tense and aspectual markers) with respect to the verb
The order of agreement auxiliaries in LSC [LEXICON 3.3.4] varies depending on the type of verb. With plain verbs, the agreement auxiliary aux is placed before the verb, as shown in (a) and (b) below.
a) 2aux1 forget?
‘Have you forgotten me?’
b) ix1 seem woman ix3 3aux3 forget.
‘I think she has forgotten you.’
(examples a-b based on Quer et al., 2005)
However, in a sentence with an agreement verb the auxiliary sign is placed right after the agreement verb, irrespective of whether the main verb carries agreement markers (a) or no (b).
a) ix3 wedding3aux1 1invite3 know.not.
‘I don't know whether I'll be invited to his wedding.’
b) parents ix(poss)1 3aux1 allow term final trip.
‘My parents let me go to the end of term trip.’
(examples a-b based on Quer et al., 2005)
Time adverbials [LEXICON 3.3.1, 3.5.2] are commonly placed at the beginning of the sentence, since temporal information establishes a frame that indicates when the event takes place. In the examples below, past two-weeks is indicating past temporal reference (a) and tomorrow is indicating future temporal reference (b).
a) past two-weeks bus strike. [VIDEO NEEDS TO BE RECORDED]
‘Two weeks ago there was a bus strike.’
b) tomorrow mountain weather good sure. [VIDEO NEEDS TO BE RECORDED]
‘Tomorrow in the mountains there will be good weather for sure.’
(examples a-b based on Quer et al., 2005)
Most of the aspectual markers in LSC [LEXICON 3.3.2] are placed in final position in the sentence. For instance, there are different lexical signs used in LSC for expressing perfective aspect: already, finish and end. They are placed at the end of the sentence, after the verb, as shown in the examples below.
a) ix1 eat already.
‘I have already had lunch.’
b) ix1 work finish.
‘I finished working.’
(recreated from Quer et al., 2005)
c) ix1 work end.
‘I ended working.
Continuative and durative aspectual markers [LEXICON 3.3.2] are also commonly placed after the verb, as illustrated below.
a) ix(poss)1 friend sick still.
‘My friend is still sick.’
b) ix1 university study continue.
‘I'm still studying my BA.’
Habitual aspectual markers are also usually placed at the end of the sentence, after the verb. In the example below the sign always_the_same is placed after the verb wake_up.
today morning ix1 wake_up time eight always_the_same.
‘Today I keep waking up at 8.’