Re: A few questions about linguistics concerning my new project

Den 30. jul. 2007 kl. 23.35 skrev David J. Peterson:
>
> (2) How do you deemphasize an agent in an ergative language?
>
> To answer (2) first, I'd just drop the ergative argument.  Seems
> reasonable enough:
>
> (a) hopoko sapu.
> /man sleep/
> "The man's sleeping."
I tend to think of sleeping as an activity instead of a perception,
but this is perhaps not how it's seen in many languages.

In Suraetua (aka Gaajan) I would say
"Yra ej iu" (man-(abs) sleep-(act) it.does)
here, just as you indicate.

"The man is hit," however, is:
"Yrame autitu ju" (man-ben hit-apass it.does)

This is parallel to how I am using the benefactive when the agent is
specified: "Yrame ete autitu a" (man-ben woman-(abs) hit-apass
it.does.to.it)

It could be phrased "Ete yrame autitu a" just as well.

Or of course: "Eteke yra auti a" (woman-erg man-(abs) hit-(act)
it.does.to.it".


> (f) hopoko lamuto (palinok).
> /man-ABS. pet-ANTI. (panda-OBL.)/
> "The man's petting at the panda (but not very successfully or
> intentionally)."
Im Suraetua I think I would use an allative:
"Ete yrati autitu a" (woman-(abs) man-all hit-apass it.does.to.it".

But I am thinking of introducing an incompleteness (or in fact
imperfectiveness) marker, for example:
"Eteke yra autida a" (woman-erg man-(abs) hit-imp it.does.to.it".

(From 'uda' - empty.)

LEF