Re: Assorted (and rather theoretical): VSO languages, articles, ergativity, and morae

Doug Ball wrote:
> Consider it a prime example of the sort of rapid
> changes I tend to institute (apart from the rest of you).  The reason for
> this appears to be that I have such an emotional attachment to Skerre (it's
> _my language_) that I try to make it as perfect as possible as fast as
> possible (I have sketches of other langs, but they probably could never
> reach the _my language_ level).
Ha, funny... my emotional attachment to _my language_ manifests itself
quite differently in that I cannot bear to throw out essential aspects
of Teonaht.  Like Christophe and others I allow for accretions and
alternate expressions, but keep the old ones.

However, there are exceptions.  I believe I'm going to rid T. of the
relatively recent addition I made some months back--that dreadful post
positioned indefinite article.  This means completely rewriting that
long, turgid description of it in the "Teach Yourself Teonaht" lesson
one.  It simply does not work in a language that allows for suffixual
and prefixual attachments.  The suffixed "indefinite" pronoun looks
like a prefixed "definite" pronoun if another noun followed it, and I
was having to add a "z" to differentiate it and it was a mess.  But
since it was a recent addition, and an infelicitous one, I don't mind
giving it up.

So, Doug, I do occasionally make core changes in Teonaht, searching, as
you do, for more felicitous and economic expression despite my
maunderings
the other day about how "baroque" and "convoluted" Teonaht is.  That
was just my hissy fit about topic and focus and OSV word order.  I think
I may have some solutions there too.

Sally
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SALLY CAVES
scaves@frontiernet.net
http://www.frontiernet.net/~scaves (bragpage)
http://www.frontiernet.net/~scaves/teonaht.html (T. homepage)
http://www.frontiernet.net/~scaves/contents.html (all else)
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Niffodyr tweluenrem lis teuim an.
"The gods have retractible claws."
                                from _The Gospel of Bastet_
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