Re: topic/compliment & Sanskrit script

On Sun, 28 Jan 2001, 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.
Don't know if this helps, but in Korean:

-i/-ga: subject
-eul/-reul: object
-eun/-neun: topic

(You use the first form if the word ends in a consonant, second if it
ends in a vowel)

yunha-ga ch'aek-eul ilgeo.
Yoon Ha-subj. book-obj. reads

Yoon Ha is reading a book.

*

yunha-neun ch'aek-eul ilgeo.
Yoon Ha-topic book-obj. reads.

Yoon Ha (as opposed to some other person) is reading a book
or
As for Yoon Ha, she's reading a book.

*

ch'aek-eun yunha-ga ilgeo.
book-topic Yoon Ha-subject reads

Yoon Ha is reading a book (as opposed to something else--I dunno, a
newspaper or cereal box).
or
As for the book, Yoon Ha is reading it.

Note that the topic in Korean has to go to the front of the sentence (or
at least, it sounds hideously weird to me elsewhere, which isn't quite
the same thing) despite the usual SOV order.

I'm sure someone will respond with a far more useful Japanese example.  :-p

YHL