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Re: Nouns, verbs, adjectives... and why they're p

From:Mathias M. Lassailly <lassailly@...>
Date:Friday, December 11, 1998, 18:59
Nik wrote :

Mathias M. Lassailly wrote:
> > Take my favourite example : *the nice dancer* = the agent who dances > > well or the person who is nice. > > Are there any *natural* languages that distinguish those two, or similar > ambiguities? >
It's no *ambi*guity, but *ambi*valence (speaking of *valency* :-). As Christophe points it in his Azak grammar, Old French had an accusative genitive. Modern French does with *un grand homme* vs. *un homme grand*. But you may be right : I don't know any contemporary language doing so. So thank you for backing my viewpoint ;-). Mathias
> -- > "We're not obsessed, we're focused!" - X-Philes' motto > http://members.tripod.com/~Nik_Taylor/X-Files > ICQ: 18656696 > AOL: NikTailor > >
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