Abilitative forms *

Abstract

This chapter discusses mainly a number of different environments in which the stem bil- ‘know’ is found. First, it forms a complex suffix expressing ability (possibility or permission). Since the special negated abilitative suffix is its counterpart, many grammarians speak of a potential conflict in that neither suffix can follow a negated stem. However, examples drawn from a text corpus reveal that if one can do something, one might also be able not to do that thing, and similarly, one might also not be able not to do “something.” Secondly, the abilitative forms are contrasted with other applications of bil-; ‘know how to’ is expressed by an inflected infinitival complement of bil-, but a full infinitive preceding the negative stem bil-me- stands for duration or continuity.