Henrik Theiling <theiling@...> writes:
> Hi!
>
> I'd like to know what ways exist of rendering the verb `to have' in
> other languages (both natural and constructed).
[examples snipped]
Germanech uses a verb "to have" just like English:
Jo hab un auto.
I have-1SG a car
Nur-ellen uses a dative subject and a zero copula:
Nim automobil.
1SG-DAT car-OBJ
I'll probably change this to a form with a non-zero verb "to exist", but
still with a dative subject.
> I'd like to know what concepts there are in general. The language I
> am currently constructing is isolating, has no copula, is very
> regular, is All-Nouns and has active case marking. Is there a typical
> way for such a language to render `to have'?
Certainly not as a normal transitive verb because there is no action
involved. This is the reason why I arrived at the "to be + dative"
construction in Nur-ellen, which also has active case marking.
> I'm not too familiar with non-IE languages, just looked at the grammar
> of a few others, so maybe someone could tell me more. What did you
> invent for your conlangs? Why did you? What natlangs do it what way?
I think the two pattern found in your examples (transitive verb "to
have", intransitive verb "to be/to exist" with the possessor in dative
or genitive case) are both very common.
Jörg.