Re: Triggers and Voice

>===== Original Message From Constructed Languages List
>In Tagalog we have:
>
>   ACTOR FOCUS
>   "Kumain ng  ipis  ang  ibon."       AGENT = focus
>    eat:AT GEN roach TRIG bird         PATIENT = oblique
>
>   PATIENT FOCUS
>   "Kinain ng  ibon ang  ipis."        PATIENT = focus
>    eat:PT GEN bird TRIG roach         AGENT = oblique
>
>Notice how the valency has not changed in the Tagalog forms. In
>both forms, the argument that is not in focus is an oblique
>argument marked by a genitive marker.
Hmm, in Dunamy you'd have something similar:

    "Ari   pats      ara vody."[1]
    /@ri   p@ts      @r@ vodZ/
     eat.D bird.PRES NC  roach
    (The bird eats the roach)

    "P'ar  vodyas     ara pat."
    /pw@r  vodZ@z     @r@ p@t/
     eat.I roach.PRES NC  bird
    (The roach is eaten by the bird)

Which I guess works the same way, except that "ara" is not so much a 'trigger'
as a 'trigged'.

Anyway, is this like saying a trigger language has no transitive verbs?

     *Muke!

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