Re: A bit on Sturnan

Ah, you're talking about the alienable and the inalienable possession as
represented by the Polynesian languages with 'a' and 'o', as in the Maori
"taku, aku; toku, oku" - my, with differences in the use according to whether
or not the possessed object is regarded as alienable or inalienable.

Wesley Parish

On Friday 19 April 2002 01:34, you wrote:
> Jesse Stephen Bangs sekalge
> <I would find this more enlightening if you would elucidate the
> difference
> between possessive and genitive in your conlang.  Perhaps one of them is
> also partitive?  What defines the difference?>
>
> Possessive: I currently own a certain item.
> Genitive: It belongs to me in a more tenuous manner.
>
> For instance, "you have Magian's own luck" would use the genitive form of
> Magian (whoever that is). However, "Magian's luck never failed" would use
> the possessive. Pretty much standard. Genitive is also used for
> non-disposable income and for bills from the creditor's point of view
> (before they are paid). Land ownership is denoted with the genitive
> because Iker* owns the world, but oddly rentership (?) uses the
> possessive. That's mainly to distinguish the two, but it used to be that
> a token of rent was given to the renter, and the word was replaced by the
> word for a piece of property.
> * From ikerei, "to make".
>
> How I love the sound of my own...erm, the font of my own syntax.
>
> The rambling
> Chris Wright
--
Mau e ki, "He aha to mea nui?"
You ask, "What is the most important thing?"
Maku e ki, "He tangata, he tangata, he tangata!"
I reply, "It is people, it is people, it is people!"