Re: THEORY: Ergativity and polypersonalism

> > >Chechen is ergative and has verbal desinences, yet it is not
>polypersonnal.
> > >On the other hand a features of French (definitely accusative) can be
> > >considered polypersonnal.
> >
> > Wich feature are you talking about?
> >
> > French verbs never agrees with object or agent, only with the subject in
> > person and number: it is not polypersonnal at all...
>
>Oh, yes, especially spoken French can be analysed like that very well.
>Search the archives especially for Christoph's remarks (usually
>on polysynthesis in French).  I think this is about sentences like
>
>   Moi j'l'aime bien ce film.
>       --------
>       ^
>        \_ verb with subject & object agreement
>
That is not the same thing that's a contraction of 2 pronouns

   Moi, je l'aime bien ce film

je = 1st person
l' = 3rd person in front of a word beginning by a vowel
      if it's a consonant it will be "le" or "la" (usually contracted in l'
when speaking)


In french, a ' means that these are separate words _excepted_ in the word
"aujourd'hui" (today) wich is an old contraction and pasting of Old French
and/or Vulgar Latin words


you can't say that, because it is contracted and that we usually represent a
missing letter by a ', that it is a desinence

if so you have to say that saying "we" in "we're happy" is a desinence

or that the "s" in "my dad's here" is a locative particle

but these are only contractions they are not part of the word they are near
of

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