Re: Ethical Dative, was Re: Polysynthetic Languages
| From: | Ray Brown <ray.brown@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Tuesday, September 30, 2003, 5:24 |
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On Monday, September 29, 2003, at 03:13 , John Cowan wrote:
> Christophe Grandsire scripsit:
>
>> The closest I can find in English of this phenomenon is the expression
>> "on
>> me" in "don't die on me" that I've heard a few times.
>
> That means more like "Don't die and leave me in this situation".
>
>> Of course, it doesn't help
>> explaining the French and Basque ethical dative, but I hope my
>> explanation
>> above has helped people understand something which seems very foreign to
>> English.
>
> Like the familiar/polite 2nd person distinction, it's something we had but
> got rid of a few centuries ago.
Except in the north of England where, I understand, 'thou', 'thee' etc.
are still alive & healthy :-)
Interestingly, the Welsh have lost the distinction when speaking English;
but in modern Welsh itself 'ti' and 'chi' (literary: 'chwi') are used just
like French 'tu' and 'vous'
Ray.
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