Re: Antigenetive case?

En réponse à Joe <joe@...>:

> Has anyone thought of a case which marks a genetive, but marks it on
> the
> posessed, not the posessor? I'll make up an example --
>
> In a demo language (not existing)
> ie.
>  kathai elom
>  cat.AGN(f) 3s.ACC(m)
>  cat-of him
>   his cat
>
> AGN = anti genitive
> 3s = Third person singualr
> ACC =   Accusative.
>
> You see?
>
> Does this exist in any natlangs?
>
What you describe is usually called the "construct case" or "construct state"
(which is usually opposed to the "absolute state", the uncompleted form of the
noun). It's a common feature in Semitic languages like Arabic and Hebbrew. I
can't give you examples since I don't know any Hebbrew and my Arabic is
extremely rusty, but I'm sure other people on the list will be happy to do
so ;)) .

I always found the construct state to be a fascinating feature, so it's not
surprising that it made its way into Maggel ;))) . Example:
biirh ['bIx_j]: a dog
hbiirh an rin ['DIx_j @~n 'r\E~]: the dog of the woman or the dog of a woman.

Note that in Maggel, like in many languages having a construct case (it's the
case of the Semitic languages at least), the construct noun is always defined
by the complement and thus never takes the article, though having a definite
meaning. In Semitic languages it's a bit stranger, as the definition of the
completed noun is usually marked by the use of the article *on the completing
noun*!!!

Christophe.

http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr

Take your life as a movie: do not let anybody else play the leading role.

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