Re: cases

Edward Heil wrote:

>For the Boranesian-impaired...  Nominative?  Ergative?  What kind
>of transitivity system does Boranesian have?
>
>Ever since I heard of Ergative languages I've wanted to make one...
>
Boreanesian is a trigger language like those of the Philippines and
other Western Austronesian languages. Based on my theories and
understanding of trigger languages, the concept of
nominative/ergative subject cannot really apply because all
sentences are structured as nominal predicates - that is, there is
only *one* core argument. So instead of saying "The boy kissed the
girl", a Boreanesian would say something like "The boy is the kisser
of the girl" or "The girl is the 'kissing-recipient' of the boy".
Transitive sentences simply do not exist.

-kristian- 8-)