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Re: Spanish-related question ((q)SVO ?)

From:David Peterson <thatbluecat@...>
Date:Tuesday, September 21, 2004, 20:24
Rodlox wrote:

<<"Que wot be thee."
" ? / what is / state-of-being / you "

 "What are you?">>

I still see two question words: "que" and "wot".   I mean, right in
the translation you translate "wot" as "what is".   That's about as
much of a question word as you can get.

<<that would probably have an interlinear more like "state-of-being / teacher
/ you"...though I may be wrong.>>

So, in essence, you have a VOS language, like Malagasy.   And
what you have are two question words: "que" and "wot".   If I
were to conjecture as to how this system works, it'd be this:

(1) Taking a standard GB root, let's say that there's a Q feature
somewhere that causes WH words to move in front of the verb.
So, in "wot be thee", the "wot" comes from the direct object position
and moves in front of the verb.

(2) Unlike GB, the Q feature is actually extent, and that Q feature
is "que".

(3) Further conjecturing: If you wanted to say "Are you a teacher?",
you'd have the following: "Que be teacher thee?"

Is that what you were thinking of?

-David
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