4B.5 *beptakhele* — much more than "is doing"
4B · Verbs in use — which form when · a plain-language guide to Assyrian (Sureth) grammar
The progressive is the form you will hear most, because in Assyrian it carries the whole of storytelling.
Actually in progress
The expected job, and the default for nearly every verb:
| Assyrian | English |
|---|---|
| beddayet mu-maren? | do you know what I'm saying? |
| ana len beddaya | I don't know |
| let bikhala, let beshtaya | you're not eating, you're not drinking |
Doing it by saying it — performative
When the saying is the act — begging, swearing, apologising — Assyrian uses the progressive where English uses a plain present:
| Assyrian | English |
|---|---|
| ana parpuleven b-diyyukh, ka-diyyan la katlet | I beg you, do not kill us |
| raba makhleta betlaben | I greatly beg your pardon |
Telling a story
This is the big one. In Khan's text corpus the progressive is the commonest form for narrating the main line of events — not the past. It puts the listener in the scene, the way English does with "so he walks in and says…". The plain past clusters instead in the setup and the epilogue.
| Assyrian | English |
|---|---|
| beshkalele o-nasha, bektalule | he takes that man and kills him |
| bitayele gu-betet babu. bikhalele, beshtayele, bezmarele, berkadele | he comes back to his father's house. He eats, he drinks, he sings, he dances |
| Natan bitayele, hech-mendi lele vada ka-babu | Natan comes but does nothing for his father |
If a story you're listening to seems to be entirely in the present tense, this is why. Nothing is wrong; that is the past tense of narrative.
About to happen
| Assyrian | English |
|---|---|
| malka … platele al-da urkha | the king is setting out on this journey (on such-and-such a day) |
---