Re: Primary/secondary object systems

Paul Bennett wrote:
> Dechticaetiative languages (which AFAIK only exist in Africa)
And English.  ;-)  Arguably, English uses that, at least in passives:

I see Bill
S V   PO

Bill is seen
S     PASSVERB

I gave Bill the book
S V    PO   SO

Bill was given the book
S    PassVerb   SO

I gave the book to Bill
S  V    PO       PrepPhrase

The book was given to Bill
S         PassVerb  PrepPhrase

The "gift" (don't know the proper term) can only be the subject if you
turn the recipient into a prepositional phrase.

> I write      the letter      the pen, then put it in the draw.
> S V              DO     with     IO           (DO)
> S V     THUS     SO              PO           (PO)
>
> In "dative" (normal) languages, "it" refers fairly unambiguously to the
> letter (given the sentence in isolation), whereas in dechticaetiative
> languages it refers just as unambiguously to the pen.
I'd consider it ambiguous, at least in English.  I'd probably assume
that "it" referred to the letter if there was no other context, but I
wouldn't consider it odd if it referred to "pen".

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