Applicatives (was Re: Requesting some challenging sentences)

Hallo!

Gary Shannon wrote:

> --- Jörg Rhiemeier <joerg_rhiemeier@...> wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> >  Examples from German:
> >
> > Peter schenkt Paula ein Buch.  -> Peter beschenkt
> > Paula mit einem Buch.
> > NOM           DAT       ACC       NOM
> > ACC
> >
>
> Is this like the English:
>
> Peter gave Paula a book. -> Peter presented Paula with
> a book.
Yes, the meaning is the same.  The difference is that German uses
a prefix _be-_ on the verb, while in English, a different verb is
used.  However, the German prefix is of limited productivity, and
thus better considered derivational than inflectional.  Apparently,
there are languages with inflectional applicatives in Africa and
the Americas, but I don't know much about them.

Greetings,

Jörg.

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