Re: Ðe construct case hisparadox

Pavel Iosad wrote:
> I'm not sure I'm following you. Construct case is an instance of head-
> marking, yet I do not think that completely head-marking languages
> exist. The distinction between construct-case and genitive-case
> constructions does not have anything to do with assigning, for
> instance, thematic roles to the NP.
In Mohawk, at least, verbs agree with the possessor.  Thus, in a
sentence like "The thief stole the man's hats", the verb would take
animate-singular object marking (agreeing with man) rather than
inanimate-plural.

Of course, it's likely that in an alternate English, the possessed noun
would still be the subject of agreement, thus "Ðe man his-hats are
brown" (or whatever the otherEnglish words would be).

An interesting idea would be to have an alternation, such that some
speakers would say "Ðe man his-hats are" and others "Ðe man his-hats
is".  Perhaps possessor-agreement would be more common when something
intervenes between the noun and the verb.

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