Re: Unresolved problems in Lyanjen morphosyntactic nomenclature

>===== Original Message From Constructed Languages List
>PROBLEM ONE: Noun cases. Lyanjen has three non-oblique cases. The first one
>is used for the subject of intransitive clauses:
>
>The second one is used to mark agents, such as the agent of a transitive
>verb, whether or not there's a patient. The third one is used to mark
>patients, whether or not there's an agent.
[snipf]
>So. In Chapter 7 of _Describing Morphosyntax_, Payne describes a three-way
>division of noun roles between subjects, agents, and patients. Most
>languages either group subjects and agents in the same case (nominative, vs.
>accusative) or subjects and patients (absolutive, vs. ergative). None of
>these terms work for me since mine are all separate. What do you think of
>the case names "subjective", "agentive," and "patientive"?
Generally "subjective" as a label may be too easy read as /s@b"dZEktIv/
instead of /"sVbdZ@ktIv/...

At http://www.xibalba.demon.co.uk/jbr/ranto.html#4
a three-way system is given the names "ergative" (for agent case) "accusative"
(for patient case) and "intransitive" (for subject case).

I don't think the nom-vs-acc and abs-vs-erg contrasting is so much important
as that 'ergative' means agent of a transitive verb and that 'accusative' is
patient of a transitive verb, and ifsince they apply, may as well use them.

(So technically Hadwan cases are ergative, accusative, genitive, ablative,
dative-intransitive, locative.)

     *Muke!

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