Re: Skälansk - History and Babel text

On Tue, 7 Dec 2004 08:36:38 +0100, Philip Newton <philip.newton@...>
wrote:

>On Mon, 6 Dec 2004 19:14:07 -0500, Pascal A. Kramm <pkramm@...> wrote:
>> There are some other nifty features, like VSO syntax (which is pretty rare),
>
>It's used in at least some Polynesian languages -- e.g. Niuean is
>arguably VSO (if you don't consider it ergative, in which case it's
>VAP).
I know, that's why I wrote "rare" and not "hardly used at all".

>>     * It was decided to put the verb at the beginning, followed by subject
>> and object, since this structure was not found in any other known languages.
>
>I think OSV is the rarest word order, with few known natlangs using it.
Yes, but keep in mind that this decision was made in the late middle ages,
so it refers to their knowledge at that time.

--
Pascal A. Kramm, author of:
Choton: http://www.choton.org
Ichwara Prana: http://www.choton.org/ichwara/
Skälansk: http://www.choton.org/sk/
Advanced English: http://www.choton.org/ae/

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