Re: Mapwords

Ian Spackman wrote:


>>
> Oh, I should have said that the whole-sentence mapword idea was intended
> for an alien language (I almost brought it up last week when possibilities
> for alien languages were being discussed).  A *truly* alien language might
> be unthinkable to us, but we can certainly come up with languages that we
> can't handle, at least in real time!
>
> I agree, for humans I'd expect clause level mapwords (and probably short
> clauses at that, with a tendency to relative clauses rather than
> complicated noun phrases within in main clause, for instance).
>
Maybe within the realm of human possibility-- the mapwords are used only in
formal/correct writing...? Then in speech, perhaps bits or pieces of the
mapwords could be attached to the constituents they relate to? Basque at
least has "auxiliaries" that define Subject, Object, IO, tense and
trans./intrans. (there's also forms that in addition indicate "hearer is
intimately involved" or some such.  And IIRC Amman Iar had something
similar.

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