Re: topic/compliment & Sanskrit script

Patrick Dunn wrote:

>Two questions:
>
>Could someone please explain how the topic/compliment system works, as
>with Japanese wa/ga?  I'm not sure I completely understand it, and I want
>to use it for Hrondu.
To give an over-simplified account: _ga_ is used to mark the subject of the
sentence. It is similar to the nominative in Latin, Greek, and Germanic
(among others). _wa_ is used to mark the topic of the sentence. A topic can
be a subject, object, location -- anything except the main verb of the
sentence. The restriction on topics is that they cannot be introduced out
of thin air -- they must have been mentioned at some point earlier in the
conversation. You would find it very strange for me to walk up to you and
say "Speaking of radishes, I like them." In order for me to say this,
radishes must have come up in the conversation already. _ga_ on the other
hand, is perfectly fine to use the first time the words/concept is used in
the conversation.




Marcus Smith

"Sit down before fact as a little child,
be prepared to give up every preconceived notion,
follow humbly wherever and to whatsoever abysses Nature leads,
or you shall learn nothing."
                -- Thomas Huxley