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

From:Chris Bates <chris.maths_student@...>
Date:Saturday, February 4, 2006, 17:32
Jim Henry wrote:

>Most of the languages I'm familiar with have just one conjunction >to introduce a subordinate clause, whether that clause is the >subject or the object of the verb in the main clause. E.g., > >It's interesting that you mention that. >[= "you mention that"-NOM is interesting] > >He didn't know that you were coming. >[He-NOM know-NEG "you were coming"-ACC] > >English also has another conjunction "whether" >to introduce subordinate clauses with non-indicative >mood (if that's the right term). Esperanto behaves >roughly the same way with "ke" and "cxu", except >that it doesn't require a dummy subject in the main >clause when the ke/cxu subordinate clause is >the subject of the main verb. > >
Basque has two separate verb suffixes, -(e)la and -(e)n, the first of which corresponds to English "that" for most purposes, and the second of which is used in a similar way to "whether" in English.