Re: inalienable possession

Christophe Grandsire wrote:
>         It's near the same distinction that occurs between the ergative and
> the nominative: the ergative can be used only with animates, the nominative
> for unvolitional (very useful your word, Sally) animates and for every kind
> of inanimates.
The ergative can be used with inanimates, it's just less common.  "The
disease killed him", disease is inanimate, but it would be ergative, or
better yet "The rock crushed his head when it fell on him", rock would
be ergative, yet it's still ergative.  It's just that ergative is
*usually* animate.
--
"It has occured to me more than once that holy boredom is good and
sufficient reason for the invention of free will." - "Lord Leto II"
(Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert)
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