Re: Resumptive pronoun?
From: | claudio <claudio.soboll@...> |
Date: | Wednesday, June 27, 2001, 15:46 |
well perhaps you are right.
but at least the existance of pro-phrases (pro-form for more than one
term) is one of my conlang's core features.
example sentence:
"walking through an dark slum-alley by night in san francisco is really
exciting. but *it* is dangerous too."
"it" is referring not to a single nound but rather to the whole
phrase: "walking through an dark slum-alley at night in san francisco"
are there any natural languages which express this concept already ?
regards,
c.s.
CG> En réponse à claudio <claudio.soboll@...>:
>>
>> however i see no real need for an explicit resumptive pronoun beside a
>> demonstrative pronoun.
>> both express the same concept.
>>
CG> No they don't. A resumptive pronoun refers to things/beings which are in the
CG> speech, while demonstrative pronouns refer to things/beings which are around in
CG> our space-time continuum. As short, resumptive pronouns refer to the *inside* of
CG> the *speech*, while demonstrative pronouns refer to the *outside* of the
CG> *speech*, the world around us. It just happened that in most Western IE
CG> languages both functions have conflated. Still, if it's true that you usually
CG> don't need the distinction, it seems to me that you want to be quite precise
CG> with your language. Thus you should dissociate those two functions.
CG> Christophe.
CG> http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr
"rurmlor entflöt, fluppseveri trimel akre wopel larf."
- alte redensart
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