Chapter 14 Verbs and time
Past to
to places the clause's event or state before the present moment.
mia sileta to nila. — I saw the sun.
The tongue makes a dental closure and releases into rounded o. That physical edge helps the particle remain distinct in a stack, but Phi assigns no hidden meaning of completion to its sound.
Past is not perfective
A past event may be complete, ongoing at a past reference point, beginning, ending, or habitual. Aspect states the difference:
| Phi | Gloss | English |
|---|---|---|
mia to theo. | 1SG PST read | I read in the past. |
mia to si theo. | 1SG PST IPFV read | I was reading. |
mia to ki theo. | 1SG PST PFV read | I had read. |
mia to pa theo. | 1SG PST INCH read | I began to read. |
mia to te theo. | 1SG PST CESS read | I stopped reading. |
mia to ro theo. | 1SG PST HAB read | I read habitually then. |
to comes before aspect because tense is the first Slot 1 rank.
Past is not source
The particle says when, not how the speaker knows. A memory, record, inference, or report can all concern the past. An evidential appears only when the source claim belongs in the sentence:
shia to hi wepu. — They left, as I directly witnessed.
shia to ke wepu. — They left, as I infer from evidence.
An unmarked shia to wepu. simply asserts that they left and leaves provenance unstated. Past time has enough work of its own.