Re: middles

JOEL MATTHEW PEARSON wrote:
> Ha!  After a few minutes looking, I managed to find an example of
> a natlang which consistently assigns dative case to the subjects of
> verbs of perception and emotion.
W. *almost* does that.  Most verbs of perception and emotion take dative
for the subject of the verb:

NaTyanaz lassiu
John-dat. see-1.Sg.Abs.
John sees me

All sensory verbs can take the prefix la- turning it into a
experiencer-subject, with the connotation of control by the subject:

naTyanal lalassitas naBaba
John-erg. ES-see-3.Sg.Rat.Abs. Bob-abs.
John looks at Bob/John watches Bob

A few verbs, like up=E1 (to love) take the commitative for the object, an=
d
absolutive for the experiencer

naTyan up=E1tas tiSun
John-abs. love-3.Sg.Rat.Abs. Sue-com.
John loves Sue (cf. "John is in love with Sue")
However, "to be in love with" isn't a perfect translation, since in
English one can't "be in love with" their mother (unless, perhaps,
they're in Mississippi ;-))

The idea is that neither participant has any control - the state of
loving is a natural phenomenon that exists between them.  "To love
perfectly" (I forget the verb), take experiencer-subject.  This would be
used to translate "love" in passages like "For God so loved the world
...", the idea being that God is making an effort to love.

--=20
"Public media should not contain explicit or implied descriptions of sex
acts.  Our society should be purged of the perverts who provide the
media with pornographic material while pretending it has some redeeming
social value under the public's 'right to know.'" - Kenneth Star, 1987
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