Re: Conlang-to-body-shape connections

On Wed, Mar 26, 2003 at 07:30:20AM -0800, Joe wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "H. S. Teoh" <hsteoh@...>
> To: <CONLANG@...>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 2:10 PM
> Subject: Re: Conlang-to-body-shape connections
[snip]
> > radically different. Not only is Ebisedian non-accusative, it defies all
> > existing classification by not operating based on the S, A, P noun
> > function model. Word order is free; so far the only tendency that has
> > arisen is that verbs don't like being final.
>
> I tried, once.  In my attempted classification, Conveyant is S.  There is no
> A or P Originative is an Ellative noun, Receptive a Dative, and the other
> two are the same as normal classification.
Hmm, that seems a bit backward to me, in terms of semantics. If we wanted
to shoehorn Ebisedian into an S/A/P system, the conveyant is probably
closest to P rather than S, and the instrumental would be closest to A.
This shows up in verbs like _ka'k3_ (to cause), _vy'e_ (to spin, to cause
to rotate), and _t0'e_ (to steer, to direct), where semantically, P
appears in the conveyant case.

> Ebisedian verbs form two functions at once: in non-conveyant sentences,
> it is a combination of a noun and an (imaginary) verb. The noun is
> declined as a verb, though, to add to the confusion.  In the sentence
> "eb0' zotww' pii'z3du', it would perhaps be literally translated 'from
> me, to the man, goes looking".  and "ebu' fww't3 pii'z3d0" would be
> 'from the man, to me, comes seeing'.
Hmm. This seems to lend weight to my proposed theory that there are really
no verbs; the "verb" is actually an S noun, and all 5 cases are secondary
cases.

> In a conveyant sentence, however, the verb is a normal verb: "lyy's eb3'
> loo'ru"  means, simply, 'I went to the outside'.  An important thing
> about Ebisedian is it's lack of transitive verbs, so there is no A or P.
Hmm. Perhaps you're right, the conveyant is S, and the verbs I mentioned
above are really passive verbs. That seems to fit better. :-)


T

--
Life is complex. It consists of real and imaginary parts. -- YHL