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Re: Distinct conjunctions for subordinate clauses in different case relations to main clause

From:Harold Ensle <heensle@...>
Date:Thursday, February 2, 2006, 20:03
If you are interested in different ways to introduce subclauses, you should
definitely look at avesta. I spent an insane amount of time and effort
to try and deal with subclauses in an efficient manner. I was finally
happy with this particular solution because of its generality and because
it removed the necessity for the entire class of words defined as
conjunctions.

Avesta uses a word called a conjunctive pronoun (va). It is a noun which
references the following clause as a whole. However, the pronoun is part of
the main clause and can be fully inflected like any other noun. How it is
inflected indicates how the subclause relates to the main clause. For
example:

valuk apovzoa=he went to the store.
va valuk apovzoa=that he went to the store (the event of his going to the
store)
Tavu va valuk apovzoa=It was good that he went to the store (his going to
the store was good) Here va is in the nominative.
Vesun ve valuk apovzoa=I said that he went to the store. Here va is in the
accusative (ve).
Vesun vau valuk apovzoa=I spoke AND he went to the store (My speaking was
with his going to the store). Here va is in the comitative case (vau).


For more details, see
http://home.ix.netcom.com/~heensle/lang/avesta/avgram.html

The pronoun va is introduced in section 25 on infinitives and its use as
a conjunction in sections 28 and 38.

Reply

Jim Henry <jimhenry1973@...>