Re: Degrees of volition in active languages (was Re: Chevraqis: a sketch)

> From: Jörg Rhiemeier
> Subject: Degrees of volition in active languages (was Re: Chevraqis: a
> sketch)
>
> The solution I have found for this problem in Nur-ellen (an active case
> marking language I am currently working on) is the following system of
> degrees of volition:
>
> The unmarked form is the agentive (nominative), which is always used
> if the action is voluntary.
>
> If the action is something the subject does in error or accidentally
> without intending it, the dative preposition _na_ is used, as in:
>
> Na  Turin dagnent   Veleg     mjeln.
> DAT Turin kill-PAST OBJ.Beleg OBJ.friend
>
> (Turin and Beleg are characters from _The Silmarillion_;
>  Turin kills his friend Beleg, mistaking him for an enemy.)
amman iar (coincidently also derived from JRRT's elvish languages) has the
best of both worlds here.  Its nominal case system is syntactically
ergative, but it also has what I call a predicate inflection that is active.
While the case system does not differentiate between degrees of volition,
the predicate inflections do.  Thus,

i durnanne eleth en i velgan ernurgoraen

\t i   durnanne         eleth             en         i
\m i   turin =an   -e   el-        -eth   en         i
\g the Turin =masc -[A] assertive- -past  agt.to.pat the
\p det nam   =gnd  -erg mood-      -tense ptp        det
\x the Turin            did               agt.to.pat the

\t velgan           ernurgoraen
\m beleg =an   -0   er-  en-    ur-  coiro -ae      -n
\g Beleg =masc -[P] do-  cause- not- live  -agt/pat -actn/proc
\p nam   =gnd  -abs agt- caus-  neg- v     -val     -vc
\x Beleg            slay

Here Turin, in A-function, is marked with the ergative case while Beleg, in
P-function, is in the absolutive.  Further, the auxillary _eleth en_ marks
Beleg as patientive to Turin's agentive role and the agentive predicate
inflection _er-_ on the lexical verb denotes the intentional action of the
agent.  Finally, the valence _-ae_ on the lexical verb is an active
indication of the agentive/patientive semantic roles played by the
arguments.  So here, Turin has intentionally killed Beleg (contrary to the
Silmarillion's claim).

However,

eleth an i durnanne i velgan enurgorial

\t eleth             an     i   durnanne         i
\m el-        -eth   an     i   turin =an   -e   i
\g assertive- -past  to.pat the Turin =masc -[A] the
\p mood-      -tense ptp    det nam   =gnd  -erg det
\x did               to.pat the Turin            the

\t velgan           enurgorial
\m beleg =an   -0   en-    ur-  coiro -ia      -l
\g Beleg =masc -[P] cause- not- live  -pat/thm -actn
\p nam   =gnd  -abs caus-  neg- v     -val     -vc
\x Beleg            slay

Here Turin and Beleg continue to be marked for their syntactic roles as
ergative and absolutive respectively, but now the auxillary _eleth an_ marks
Turin as semantically patientive.  The absence of an agentive inflection on
the lexical verb indicates a nonvolitional action while the valence
indicates the patientive/theme roles played by the arguments.  So here
(faithful to JRRT's intentions), Turin has accidentally killed Beleg.


> With verbs of perception, dative distinguished cursory perception
> from intentional observation, as in
>
> Martin lastent linnel e Daeron.
> Martin listened to the singing of Daeron.
>
> vs.
>
> Na Martin lastent dringel e neug.
> Martin heard the hammering of the dwarves.
The same pattern as above applies to verbs of perception, thus

vartanne eleth en i limper i dhaerannion erlauiel

\t vartanne          eleth             en         i
\m martin =an   -e   el-        -eth   en         i
\g Martin =masc -[A] assertive- -past  agt.to.pat the
\p nam    =gnd  -erg mood-      -tense ptp        det
\x Martin            did               agt.to.pat the

\t limper                i   dhaerannion
\m linno =per       -0   i   daeron =an   -ion
\g sing  =actn/proc -[P] the Daeron =masc -of
\p v     =nsfx      -abs det nam    =gnd  -gen
\x singing               the of_Daeron

\t erlauiel
\m er-  lauo -ie      -l
\g do-  hear -agt/thm -actn
\p agt- v    -val     -vc
\x hear

Would be translated as "Martin _listened to_ the singing of Daeron."

while,

eleth an i vartanne limper i dhaerannion lauial

\t eleth             an     i   vartanne
\m el-        -eth   an     i   martin =an   -e
\g assertive- -past  to.pat the Martin =masc -[A]
\p mood-      -tense ptp    det nam    =gnd  -erg
\fp did               to.pat the Martin

\t limper                i   dhaerannion     lauial
\m linno =per       -0   i   daeron =an   -ion lauo -ia      -l
\g sing  =actn/proc -[P] the Daeron =masc -of  hear -pat/thm -actn
\p v     =nsfx      -abs det nam    =gnd  -gen v    -val     -vc
\fp singing               the dhaeronannion     hear


would be translated as "Martin _heard_ the singing of Daeron."


Nur-ellen certainly looks interesting.  Do you have a website?

David

David E. Bell
The Gray Wizard
    dbell@graywizard.net
    www.graywizard.net

"Wisdom begins in wonder." - Socrates