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Phaleran Update: Language game; Alienable and inalienablepossession

From:Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...>
Date:Sunday, May 19, 2002, 23:03
"Thomas R. Wier" wrote:
> (4) eluo kwâl > city.ABS ward-3Sg > 'the city's ward' > (6) hwânto titlîna > 1Sg.INST PL.bear.ABS > 'my blackbears'
So, the verb would agree with the possessor in inalienable constructs, but the possessed in alienable ones?
> Ritual animals are inalienably possessed when alive, but > alienably possessed when dead (i.e., after sacrifice):
Interesting. Is sacrifice an important part of their religion? Uatakassi marks alienable and inalienable possession only with pronouns, there wouldn't be any way of marking it with, for example, "The man's X". Both alienable and inalienable possession is marked with clitics, which are identical for both. They are: Singular Dual Paucal Plural 1st -kua -sua -ma, -n -pa 2nd -iua -dliua -in G1 -pa -tiu -tin G2 -ma, -n -nau -nan G3 -sua -suu -sun G4 -kua -kiu -kin G5 -lua -lau -lan G6 -ua -uau -uan G7 -pa -piu -pin (Note that there are a number of homophones, free pronouns in the genetive can be used instead of clitics if necessary) For alienable possession, the clitic is attached to the end of the noun phrase, for example: Of my old house Uasanif uatikafkua Ua-sani -f ua-tika-f -kua G6-house-gen G6-old -gen-my For inalienable possession, it is attached to the end of the noun itself Of my old mother Tinanikuaf titikaf Ti-nani -kua-f ti-tika-f G1-mother-my -gen G1-old -gen Informally, it is often added to adjectives as well, as a kind of agreement: Tinanikuaf titikakuaf Ti-nani -kua-f ti-tika-kua-f G1-mother-my -gen G1-old -my -gen However, this distinction does not exist with nouns or free pronouns: Of the woman's old house Uasanif uatikaf tipitafaf Ua-sani -f ua-tika-f ti-pita -f -f G6-house-gen G6-old -gen G2-woman-gen-gen Of the woman's old mother Tinanif titikaf tipitafaf Ti-nani -f ti-tika-f ti-pita -f -f G1-mother-gen G1-old -gen G1-woman-gen-gen -- "There's no such thing as 'cool'. Everyone's just a big dork or nerd, you just have to find people who are dorky the same way you are." - overheard ICQ: 18656696 AIM Screen-Name: NikTaylor42

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Thomas R. Wier <trwier@...>