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Re: THEORY: The fourth person

From:Joe <joe@...>
Date:Thursday, April 29, 2004, 19:46
Roger Mills wrote:

>Danny Wier wrote: > > >>My next question is: can fourth person apply to subjects, or only objects? >> >> >> >If I understand this correctly, I think so: > >"He thinks/says that he knows" >"He is taller than he thinks" >where the two "he"s do not refer to the same person. >The problem has cropped up in Kash in similar sentences, where we solve it >by using a sequence of verbs for same-subject, but a subordinate clause for >different-subject. > >yapila (ya)kaya 'he-1 thinks (he-1)-knows' >yapila re yakaya 'he-1 thinks that he-2-knows' > >lavi yavital alo pilani 'more he-tall-1 from=than think-his-1' >lavi yavital alo re yapila ~pilani 'more he-tall-1 from=than that >he-thinks-2 ~think-his-2 > > > >
That's the obviate third person of which I spoke. In some languages, it also applies to Narratives.