Various Commands (was Uralic Negative Verbs)
From: | John Vertical <johnvertical@...> |
Date: | Thursday, March 30, 2006, 8:01 |
> >Joe <joe@...> wrote:
> >
> >Hmm. "Let me die now [because I'm so happy]"
> > die-1SG.IMP now
>
> >Of course, in English, that's gramatically a 2nd person
> >imperative+infinitive construction, but semantically, I would say,
> >is a first person imperative.
I disagree... semantically, it seems more like a plea. I don't think it's
even possible to actually order oneself. Alternately, it's trivial -
everything a person does is "ordered" by hirself... but these are mental
orders. I mean, a language can sure allow for a first person imperative
construction, but it can be only used to announce an already existing urge;
never to inform oneself of it. This is what makes true 1SG imperativs
impossible.
>According to the Wikipedia entry, cohortative mood is only used in
>the first person, jussive in the second and third, and imperative in
>the third. Some languages have all three, some only one. I would
>imagine that if there's only one, it is the imperative, some
>periphrastic expression being used for the others.
>Charlie
So, what languages contrast all three? And where do you get imperativ being
limited to 3p?!? 2p I might expect, but the Wikipedia article(s) mentions
neither.
John Vertical
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