Different languages have different ways to name objects of thought. We can say a dog in English; in German ein Hund, in French un chien, in Greek σκύλος, and in Russian собака.
All these words have different forms, but they will refer in context to the same object of thought we name a dog in English.
A cat in English will be eine Katze in German, or un chat in French, γάτα or γάτος in Greek, or кот in Russian.
In English, a chat can be a casual conversation, a gat may mean a channel or passage. Kot might be a Yeniseian language.
Language forms may differ, but they also happen to be very similar. We always need to know the language and the context, to see what a word denotes: in all languages, a picture of a cat is not a real cat, and the same is true about dogs.
Language form is word form. Psycholinguistics has “body language” for a figure of speech. There is no language without syntax, and our bodies are not word order. Sign languages have word form too.
When we speak or write, language form is not anything that would come to us. We need to shape our language on our own.
To work on language form, we can use virtual words. Invented or virtual, words have shapes, but they have no meaning. Children invent words spontaneously to play, and also to practice syntax.
We can have two invented verbs, bimmo and theemo. In places for head verbs, bimmo can be as a regular verb; theemo can behave like an irregular verb.
Past Simple
Present Perfect
I bimmoed.
I theemoed.
I have bimmoed.
I have theemoen.
We can have two invented nouns, phimmo and rheemo. All virtual words here are my invention. I have done the phimmoes and rheemos myself, and I have bimmoed and thimmoen. It has worked well for me.
Our virtual verbs are gillyflower. Our invented nouns can be carrot.
Invented words are just to help exercise. They are not to replace language. The handout here has a few exercises.
Let us remember about our color code and Aspect for all Time.
Colors can help learn
We avoid color red because it usually brings prescriptive opinion about language.
All Aspect and Time
It is good to browse through language forms time and again, picture a few and turn them in mind.
Virtual words may help learn speech sounds too. The words here have the sounds {f}, {b}, {th}, and {r} in the same word position. The sounds happen to be difficult to learners, just as telling [ɪ] from [ɪ:]. We may compare these in “phimmo” and “rheemo”.
Kids might say things as “phimmo bimmoes rheemo”, not only for fun, but also for real language practice. Virtual words let exercise linguistic form solely. To learn Aspect and infinitive or participle syntax, virtual words are simply the best.
As in our ■Mind practice, we may think about exercise 24, use ■Grammar visuals and have fun (!)
1. Phimmo will bimmo rheemo. 2. Rheemo has theemoen phimmo. 3. Rheemo theemoed phimmo. 4. Phimmo is theemoing rheemo. 5. Rheemo will be bimmoing phimmo. 6. Phimmo will have theemoen rheemo. 7. Phimmo had theemoen rheemo. 8. Rheemo was bimmoing phimmo.
