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Re: Antigenetive case?

From:Christophe Grandsire <christophe.grandsire@...>
Date:Friday, August 9, 2002, 9:11
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.

Replies

bnathyuw <bnathyuw@...>
Pablo David Flores <pablo-flores@...>