Re: CHAT: t-shirt
| From: | Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...> |
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| Date: | Tuesday, September 26, 2000, 4:37 |
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Jonathan Chang wrote:
> Fight linguistic extinction... invent a language!
Nangaditlìfin uiaunnàli wasagiàsali ... saggaglitlìfin!
Nangadi-tlì -fin u- iaunnà-li wa-sag(ga) -iàsa-li
Fight- Imp/Jus-you G6-death -inst G6-language-adj -inst
sagga- gli- tlì -fin
language-create-Imp/Jus-you
Fight linguistic death ... create a language!
Of course, if the subject is meant to be plural, those -fin would be
-fna
The so-called "modals" force weird case-roles. They are, in fact, not
suffixes, but a kind of auxiliary verb that incorporates the main verb.
These verbs, in essence, cause an automatic antipassive construction.
Their objects, being instrumental, may be incorporated into the verb,
which happens in the second half. But with the first half, the noun is
a noun phrase, and not a single noun, so it can't be incorporated.
Whatever the final decision is, I could mail a handwritten sample of it
in the native syllabry.
--
Dievas dave dantis; Dievas duos duonos
God gave teeth; God will give bread - Lithuanian proverb
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