Language Patterns
Recurring patterns across languages, space, and time.
Pathway · shift

From seeing to trying

How does “see” come to mean “try”?

Verbs of seeing repeatedly become markers of attempting. Japanese 食べてみる “eat and see”, Korean 먹어 보다, Mandarin 試試看, and the Turkic converb + kör- constructions all say “do it and see” for “try doing it”; Voinov (2013) traces the co-lexification across Eurasia, New Guinea, India, and West Africa.

Stages

  1. 1

    Visual perception

    SEE + OBJECT

    The verb describes perceiving a physical object with the eyes.

    Voinov 2013: pp. 74–75
  2. 2

    Do and observe

    DO V + SEE (the outcome)

    In a converb or serial-verb chain, SEE takes the preceding action as its scope: perform the action and observe what results.

    On the timeline
    Mandarin ChineseAinuThai
    Voinov 2013: pp. 76–78
  3. 3

    Attemptive auxiliary

    V-CVB + SEE → TRY V

    The component of physical sight is lost. The construction states that the subject undertakes the action experimentally, without asserting that its goal is achieved — attemptive modality.

    On the timeline
    JapaneseKoreanMandarin ChineseChagatayTuvanKyrgyzKarakalpakSakha (Yakut)Mongolian (Khalkha)KalmykManchuUzbekTamilEwe
    Voinov 2013: pp. 62–63
  4. 4

    Politeness hedge

    TRY V! → PLEASE V

    In directives, the attemptive marker hedges the assumption that the hearer can comply, and the utterance is read as a softened, polite request.

    On the timeline
    TatarBashkir
    Voinov 2013: pp. 64–65

Cross-linguistic evidence

The shift is documented almost exclusively inside multiverb constructions — a converb, infinitive, or serial verb followed by SEE — where the perception verb first means “observe the outcome” and then bleaches into an attemptive auxiliary. In several languages the auxiliary further softens commands into polite requests.

SEE as an attemptive auxiliary after a converb or infinitive

A non-final verb form carries the lexical content and a following SEE verb marks the attempt. The frame recurs across Turkic, Mongolic, Manchu, Korean, and Japanese.

Tuvan · тыва дыл

бижип көр

biži-p kör

Natural
try writing
In context

бо хемге балыктап көрдүвүс

bo xem-ge balïkta-p kör-dü-vüs

Natural
we tried fishing in this river
Literal
we fished in this river and saw
Gloss
this river-DAT fish-CVB AUX-PST.I-1PL
Tatar · татарча

либретто язып күрмәгән

libretto jaz-ïp kür-mə-gən

Natural
one who has not tried writing a libretto
Tamil · தமிழ்

சாப்பிட்டுப் பார்

cāppiṭṭup pār

Natural
taste it; try eating
In context

குழந்தை நடக்கப் பார்த்தது

korande nadakka paattadu

Natural
the child tried to walk
Literal
the child saw to walking
Gloss
child walk-INF see-PST-3SG.N
Manchu

ᡨᡠᠸᠠᠮᠪᡳ

-me tuwa-mbi

Natural
try, try out
In context

ᠰᠣᠯᡥᠣ ᡥᠠᠨ ᡩᡝ ᡝᠯᠴᡳᠨ ᡨᠠᡴᡡᡵᠠᠮᡝ ᡨᡠᠸᠠᠮᠪᡳ

solho han de elcin takūra-me tuwa-mbi

Natural
they tried sending an emissary to the Korean khan
Literal
they send an emissary to the Korean khan and see (Old Manchu Chronicles, 17th c.)
Gloss
Korea khan ALL emissary send-CVB see-NPST
Ainu · アイヌ・イタㇰ aynu itak

kar wa inkar

Natural
try doing it (〜をしてみる)
In context

henpak conpa an ya pákari wa nukar

Natural
try measuring how much there is (計ってみなさい)
Literal
measure how many shō there are and see
Gloss
how.many measure exist Q measure and see

Geographic distribution

Each marker is one attested language, coloured by its evidence set; open it for the expression recorded there.

Converb + SEE auxiliaries Serial verbs & particles Softened directives Several sets

Marker positions are approximate cultural centres — they are not territorial claims. Tiles: OpenFreeMap · © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Comparative historical timeline

How expressions overlap, compete, and replace one another across languages. Hover any band for the full date range and note.

6008001000120014001600180020002200JapaneseJaponic〜てみる〜てみる (900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary Auxiliary 見る after the -te form, “do and see → try doing”; classical dictionaries cite the use from Heian texts such as Taketori Monogatari. The action is presupposed to be carried out — 食べてみた entails eating happened — where English “tried to eat” does not. Henderson notes a softening effect in polite imperatives.KoreanKoreanic-아/어 보다-아/어 보다 (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary Auxiliary 보다 “see” after the infinitive, “try (out)”; in directives it leaves the addressee room to decline (Lee 1993). Shown here from its modern documentation; the earlier history is left undated.Mandarin ChineseSino-Tibetan › SiniticV看 “find out”V看 “find out” (950–1900) Stage: Do and observe Post-verbal intransitive 看 with the sense “find out” appears in the Zutangji 祖堂集 (952): 你試説看 “try saying it and find out”. Cheng identifies this as the environment where 看 later grammaticalized.V(V)看 · 試試看V(V)看 · 試試看 (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary 看 after a (typically reduplicated) verb marks a trial: 試試看 “give it a try”, 嘗嘗看 “taste and see”. Cheng dates the fully attemptive V-看看 reading to Modern Chinese.ChagatayTurkic › Karluk (historical)-A kör--A kör- (1400–1900) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary Chagatay tap-a kör “try to find it” (Eckmann 1966:144), within the span of the Chagatay literary language.TuvanTurkic › Siberian-(I)p кör--(I)p кör- (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary Auxiliary kör “see” after the -(I)p converb: bižip kör “try writing”. Tuvan dictionaries list the politeness reading of directives as its primary sense.KyrgyzTurkic › Kipchak-(I)p көр--(I)p көр- (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary kïl-ïp kör “try to do it” (Judakhin 1965:428).KarakalpakTurkic › Kipchak-(I)p көр--(I)p көр- (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary šeg-ip kör “try smoking” (Baskakov 1958:337).Sakha (Yakut)Turkic › Siberianкөркөр (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary keten kör “try to put on (clothes)” (Sleptsov 1972:180); the lexical verb appears without the -(I)p converb.TatarTurkic › Kipchak-п күр--п күр- (1900–2000) Stage: Politeness hedge bar-a kür “please go” (Ganiev 1998:199); the attemptive reading appears in texts, e.g. libretto jaz-ïp kür-mə-gən “one who has not tried writing a libretto”.BashkirTurkic › Kipchak-п күр--п күр- (1900–2000) Stage: Politeness hedge haqlan-a kür “please be careful”, more literally “try to be careful” (Uraksin 1996:318).Mongolian (Khalkha)Mongolic-ж үз--ж үз- (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary xelž üz “try to speak” (Hangin 1986:572); үзэх “see” after a -ж converb means “try, attempt”.KalmykMongolicүз-үз- (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary kütsədž üz-x “try to accomplish it” (Muniev 1977:547).ManchuTungusic-me tuwa--me tuwa- (1600–1900) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary tuwambi “see, look” as an auxiliary after the -me converb means “try, try out”; already in the seventeenth-century Old Manchu Chronicles: solho han de elcin takūrame tuwambi “they tried sending an emissary to the Korean khan”.UzbekTurkic › Karluk-(i)b koʻr--(i)b koʻr- (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary yeb koʻr “eat and see → try eating”; koʻrmoq “see” after the -(i)b converb (Johanson 2012:760, cited in the ComPLETE overview).TamilDravidian › SouthernV-AVP பார்V-AVP பார் (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary பார் pār “see” after the past participle means “try V-ing” — சாப்பிட்டுப் பார் cāppiṭṭup pār “taste, lit. try eating”; after the infinitive, “try to V” (Schiffman 1999:194–195).EweAtlantic-Congo › KwaV … kpɔ́V … kpɔ́ (1900–2000) Stage: Attemptive auxiliary The particle kpɔ́, from the verb “see”, adds the meaning of trying to do something: no aha sia kpɔ́ “try some of this wine” (Ameka 2008:169).AinuAinu (isolate, critically endangered)V wa inkar / nukarV wa inkar / nukar (1898–2000) Stage: Do and observe A clause-chained “see” verb after wa “and”: kar wa inkar “do and look”, glossed 「〜をしてみる」 in Kanazawa (1898); Tamura records pákari wa nukar 「計ってみなさい」. Both inkar “look” and nukar “see (it)” serve, and the visual sense stays transparent.ThaiTai-Kadai › Taiลอง V ดูลอง V ดู (1900–2000) Stage: Do and observe Post-verbal ดู “see” marks an action done for trial: ลองดู “try and see”. The overt verb ลอง “try” still co-occurs, keeping the do-and-see bridge visible.
How to read this timeline
  • Dominant use
  • Emerging use
  • Declining use
  • Approximate range
  • Overlap period (two forms coexist)
Stages
  • 1 Visual perception
  • 2 Do and observe
  • 3 Attemptive auxiliary
  • 4 Politeness hedge

References

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    Ameka, Felix K. (2008).
    Aspect and modality in Ewe: A survey.
    In Ameka, Felix K.; Kropp Dakubu, Mary Esther (eds.), Aspect and modality in Kwa languages. John Benjamins. 135–194.
  2. Anderson 2004 02
    Anderson, Gregory D. S. (2004).
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  3. Baskakov 1958 03
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  4. Cheng 2012 04
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    Verbal reduplication and grammaticalization: A study of Mandarin VV-kan and V-kankan constructions.
    Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society. 63 ff.. doi:10.3765/bls.v38i0.3321
  5. Coupe 2007 05
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  21. Vanhove & Bisang 2021 21
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  22. Voinov 2013 22
    Voinov, Vitaly (2013).
    ‘Seeing’ is ‘trying’: The relation of visual perception to attemptive modality in the world’s languages.
    Language and Cognition. 5(1): 61–80. doi:10.1515/langcog-2013-0003
  23. Weblio 古語辞典 n.d. 23
    Weblio 古語辞典 (n.d.).
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  24. Wiktionary contributors 2026 24
    Wiktionary contributors (2026).
    Wiktionary: 見る.
    https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/見る
  25. Wiktionary contributors 2026 25
    Wiktionary contributors (2026).
    Wiktionary: 보다.
    https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/보다
  26. Wiktionary contributors 2026 26
    Wiktionary contributors (2026).
    Wiktionary: 看.
    https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/看
  27. Wiktionary contributors 2026 27
    Wiktionary contributors (2026).
    Wiktionary: ดู.
    https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ดู
  28. Wiktionary contributors 2026 28
    Wiktionary contributors (2026).
    Wiktionary: үзэх.
    https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/үзэх
  29. Wiktionary contributors 2026 29
    Wiktionary contributors (2026).
    Wiktionary: ᡨᡠᠸᠠᠮᠪᡳ (tuwambi).
    https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ᡨᡠᠸᠠᠮᠪᡳ
  30. 金澤 庄三郎 1898 30
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Related patterns

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