Re: French and German (jara: An introduction)

--- In conlang@yahoogroups.com, Henrik Theiling <theiling@A...> wrote:

 > E.g. d-er    schnell-e  Hund
 >      strong  weak
 >      the     fast       dog
 >
 >      ein     schnell-er Hund
 >      none    strong
 >      a       fast       dog
 >
 >      manch   schnell-er Hund
 >      none    strong
 >      some    fast       dog

This construction of "manch" strikes me as extremely archaic.
Does anyone still use it?  To me, it seems that most people
say "manch ein schneller Hund" or "mancher schnelle Hund"
nowadays.

Also, "some" doesn't feel like a good translation of "manch".
I'd render "manch ein schneller Hund" as "many a quick dog".
(That works in English, doesn't it?)

Another use of the strong adjective endings is the article-
less construction, which is often used with prepositions or
prepositionesque adjectives (e.g. "mit vollem Mund", "in
kurzer Zeit", "bar jeder Vernunft"), or with an adverbial
genitive ("beschwingten Schrittes"), or for proverbial gene-
ralisations: "Voller Magen denkt nicht gern."



-- Christian Thalmann

Replies