En réponse à John Cowan :
> > 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".
Doesn't mean that it's not close to the ethical dative. The "and leave me
in this situation" is left for context to fill. That's pretty much how the
ethical dative works.
>Like the familiar/polite 2nd person distinction, it's something we had but
>got rid of a few centuries ago.
How come you always get rid of the *nice* parts in your natlang? ;))))))
Christophe Grandsire.
http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr
You need a straight mind to invent a twisted conlang.