4B.4 *ptekhle* — the past that reaches into the present
4B · Verbs in use — which form when · a plain-language guide to Assyrian (Sureth) grammar
Chapter 4 called this the workhorse past, and it is. What it did not say is that the natural English translation is very often "has _," not "___ed."
Khan is explicit: in conversation, a ptekhle form commonly reports a punctual event in the recent past whose edge touches the present moment.
| Assyrian | English |
|---|---|
| gori tile! | my husband has come! |
| m-ika tilukh? | where have you come from? |
| har-adiyya ana torba shudrali katukh | just now I have sent you the bag |
| ana-da adi-shmili | I have just now heard |
| ika kheshlukh? | where have you gone? |
| munshili | I have forgotten |
| dule tile | look, he has come back |
So if you have been reaching for the perfect (ptikhele) to say "I've just heard," you have been reaching one shelf too high. The plain past is the everyday answer.
The mind verbs again, and why dilukh? means "you know?"
For "know," "see" and "be glad," the past form describes the moment you acquired the state — and English then wants a present:
| Assyrian | English |
|---|---|
| dilukh, kamta merri | you know, I told you before |
| khzilakh mu-vedlakh b-rishi! | you see what you have done to me! |
| raba khdili kam-khazzennukh | I am very pleased to see you |
That is why dilukh? — literally "you knew?" — is the everyday "you get it?" from the end of Chapter 4.
The trick: a past tense used for the immediate future
Because ptekhle is the form for "this has just happened," speakers turn it round and use it for something on the very brink of happening. There is no equivalent in English, and these are things you will say weekly:
| Assyrian | English |
|---|---|
| ana kheshli | I'm off (said as you leave — literally "I went") |
| tili | I'm coming (answering a call) |
| ramsha hazer-ila. ta-sli! — tili. | "Dinner's ready, come down!" — "Coming." |
| ana shvekli kheshli m-gu-da malkuta | I'm leaving and going away from this kingdom |
"Not yet" — and the one place the perfect is required
hala "still, yet" combines with the plain past only in a question. For the statement, you must use the perfect:
| Assyrian | English |
|---|---|
| hala la tile? | hasn't he come yet? |
| hala lele tiyya? | hasn't he come yet? (also fine) |
| hala lele tiyya | he hasn't come yet |
The reason is neat: hala implies the thing may still happen, and a plain negated past ("he did not come") shuts that door, while the perfect negates only the state and leaves it open.
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