Re: Why Triggers?

En réponse à David Peterson <DigitalScream@...>:

>     Okay, now that I (think I) understand what a trigger language is,
> why the
> heck would one come about?  What's the point of them?
>     If I understand them correctly, then the following English sentence:
>   "I
> give the dog a bone."
> Could come out three different ways in a trigger language.
>
> 1.) I (unmarked) give (nominative/ergative/agent) the dog
> (dative/benefactive) a bone (acc./absol.)
> 2.) I (nom/erg/agt) give (dat/ben) the dog (unmarked) a bone
> (acc./absol.)
> 3.) I (nom/erg/agt) give (acc./absol.) the dog (dat./ben.) a bone
> (unmarked)
>
> [The cases depend on what distinction the language makes, I guess; or
> does it
> matter?]
>
Ouch! You cannot use terms like nominative or ergative in a trigger language,
they just don't fit!

>     So what on Earth is the point?  What would the difference be in
> these
> three sentences?  Is it focus?
Exactly! Trigger languages grammatically mark the focus with a universal marker
(called the trigger marker. It's universal as it doesn't mark grammatical
function, only focus, but it can be different for different classes of nouns).
And to know the grammatical function of the trigger (which is just marked for
trigger, not for grammatical function), you add an affix on the verb. It's the
verb which "triggers" the grammatical function of the focus. The other terms
(the non-focused ones) are normally marked for grammatical function by means
which depend on the language (usually, it's grammatical affixes or clitics).

  I mean, if the cases aren't changed at
> all,
> just where the marking is...why?  Am I missing something about trigger
> languages here?  Does any one have a trigger language in which you
> could
> illustrate the above example?  I just don't understand, semantically,
> what
> the difference is, and why such a distinction would be.  Can anyone help
> me
> out?
>
I am currently in the process of reviving my near dead-born language Itakian,
which is a tonal, trigger and class-system language! :) But currently, only the
grammar is updated, and I don't have any lexicon or even any affix yet :) . But
as soon as I can come up with enough words to make examples, I will post about
it.

And as for a resource on a living trigger language, I advise you:
http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/

They have a rather good explanation of the trigger system (called 'verbal
focus' in their pages).

Christophe.

http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr