Re: Nouns with arguments, verbs without arguments

On Thu, 10 Apr 2003 15:56:54 +0200, mathias <takatunu@...> wrote:

>Herman Miller <hmiller@...> wrote:
><<<
>Instead of "iønza lyrivak", you have to say "iønza rse lyrivaka" ("it's
>raining _as_ violets"). The verb "iønz-" can only take oblique arguments.
>So I'm wondering if there are any other langs that work like this.
>>>>
>
>I've seen a few languages whose verbs, adjectives and nouns have "direct"
>arguments although they are technically "intransitive" and "oblique" in
>western grammars.
>
>for instance in Japanese: yama wo aruku. "to walk the mountain"
This isn't quite the sort of thing I'm looking for; intransitive verbs at
least take subjects. "Rain" in Lindiga doesn't take any arguments at all,
either a subject or an object; you need to use prepositions to get any
nouns to go with "rain".

>and in Indonesian: kaya uang. "rich (with) money" ; piringan nasi. "a plate
>of rice"
Can these words occur by themselves (can you say "kaya" without adding
"uang", or does "kaya" require some kind of argument, like "tlazi" in
Lindiga)?

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