Re: Inverse case?

In the last episode, (On Monday 02 July 2007 23:11:09), Jeff Rollin wrote:
> Hi all
>
> You've probably heard of "inverse number", where the marked form for each
> noun is the /unusual/ number for that noun: e.g. in a language where there
> is a dual number, the dual for "two eyes" would be unmarked, and the
> singular and plural would be marked, i.e.
>
> Sing.	Dual	Pl.
>
> komo	ko		komo
>
> Conversely, the word for "grass" would be marked in the singular (i.e. "a
> blade of grass) and dual and unmarked in the plural:
>
> Sing.	Dual	Pl.
>
> lolomo	lolo		lolo
>
> I'm thinking about a language in which nouns are split into two classes,
> human and non-human, and in which human nouns in patient roles take a
> suffix, and non-human nouns in agent roles take the same suffix, e.g.
>
> uyama voso ndundu "The dog bit the man"
>
> uyama vosok ndunduk "The man bit the dog"
>
> iyaman voso panek "The man will eat the bread"
>
> iyaman vosok pan "The bread will eat the man"
>
> Jeff
Ahem. And that's wrong too. Really shouldn't post when tired.

Nevertheless:

iyaman voso pan "The man will eat the bread"

iyaman vosok panek "The bread will eat the man"

asofo pan coto "The woman cooks the bread"*

asofo pan vosok "The man cooks the bread"**

asofo panek vosok ta cotok "The bread cooks the man and the woman"

* Culturally normal

**Culturally taboo

Jeff
--
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