Re: Partitive as default?

The partitive, as I understand it, is a sort of
catch-all for all manner of case functions. The
Finnish partitive case has all of the functions below,
and then some:

* a marker for indefinite or uncountable number
(_some_ books)
* a marker to indicate that the marked noun is a part
of a whole (_pages_ from a book)
* a marker for the material out of which an object is
made (a book made of _paper_)

And a few more I have no idea about.

French has a partitive case of sorts, in its
'partitive articles' (de la, du, des), which have
functions that nicely line up with the traditional
idea of a partitive case. The functions are pretty
much exactly as those in the Finnish examples I've
given.

Examples:

*des* livres (some books)
pages *du* livre (pages from the book)
un livre *du* papier (a book made of paper)

My own language, Gi-nàin also has an opposition
between the partitive and the patientive (kind of like
an accusative), in which an object that is used up
completely gets the patientive, while an object only
partially used up gets the partitive.

Examples:

riat-s'a irài-se-i
house.PAT burn.PER.NPR
"The house burnt down (completely; nothing's left
standing)."

riat-na irài-se-i
house.PAR burn.PER.NPR
"The house was burnt (only partially; there's still
parts left standing)."

Alles klar?


	

	
		
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