Re: request
| From: | John Cowan <jcowan@...> |
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| Date: | Monday, December 16, 2002, 17:56 |
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Nik Taylor scripsit:
> A friend of mine's sister is working on a paper for a class in Romance
> Linguistics. She needs to find examples in French, Portuguese, English,
> and American Sign Language where words can be omitted without changing
> the meaning of the sentence, like pro-drop in Portuguese. If you could
> reply by private e-mail with examples, that would be great. Thanks!
This can't really be answered without knowing what is meant by "meaning".
Using a subject pronoun in pro-drop languages (which should really be
called "normal languages" and a name applied to those anomalies which are
not pro-drop, but never mind...) creates emphasis on the subject, more
or less like overstress (*I* am hungry) or clefting (It's me who is hungry)
in English. I can't imagine a sentence in which a word could be omitted
without changing meaning at least to some degree.
In World War I (and still, for all I know), when an American sargeant gave
the order "Get your fxxxing rifles!", it was a matter of routine; but when
he said "Get your rifles!" there was trouble.
--
Winter: MIT, John Cowan
Keio, INRIA, jcowan@reutershealth.com
Issue lots of Drafts. http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
So much more to understand! http://www.reutershealth.com
Might simplicity return? (A "tanka", or extended haiku)
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