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A solution, WAS: Grammar of "something to do."

From:William Annis <annis@...>
Date:Tuesday, March 26, 2002, 16:00
        First, many thanks for the comments on this.

        For Vaior I'm going to take something much like the Spanish
approach.  Namely, "something to do" will be cast as a relative
clause, with the appropriate mood as required.  Thus, "give him
something to do" could be cast several ways, depending on what you're
really trying to say:

naste   cathi    aithen       (then)     isorrh     na
na-ste  cath-i   aithe-n      (the-n)    is-orrh    na
3sg-DAT give-IMP something-ACC which-ACC do-PR.SUBJ 3sg

In this one, you just want to give someone some busywork, "give him
something (which) he may do."  The relative, "then" isn't required
here, since the case of the antecedent and the relative are the same.
If you need to say something more forcefull:

naste cathi aithen (then) isanhiro   na
                          is-anhir-o na
                          do-MUST-PRES

Which is just, "give him something he must do."

        This seems the simplest approach.  Vaior grammar is complex
enough as it is.  :)

--
wm