Re: Ethical Dative, was Re: Polysynthetic Languages

On Sun, 28 Sep 2003, David Barrow wrote:

> Fowler's Modern English Usage says it means emotional or expressive and
> is a way a speaker introduces himself into an action of which he has no
> more than indirect interest. Fowler equates it to a parenthetical 'I
> wonder' and was once present in English:
>
> "He that kills me some six or seven dozens of Scots before breakfast"
>
> To me above dative  and the one in the Spanish  "El nene no me come la
> comida" is more than parenthical. It conveys the idea of 'you do it for
> me as a favour even if you are not keen on doing it for your own sake'
Umm... I think I'm confused. Can you provide an example with 'I wonder'
that's equivalent to the ethical dative? How does the above sentence
differ from 'Someone who kills six or seven dozen Scots before breakfast
for me'?

--
Tristan                  <kesuari@...>

Yesterday I was a dog. Today I'm a dog. Tomorrow I'll probably still
be a dog. Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement.
                -- Snoopy

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