Re: Comments? Applicative and Noun Incorporation

In a message dated 04/13/02 4:10:56 AM, dbell@GRAYWIZARD.NET writes:

<< Since it is most natural to mark a participant when it is in an
unaccustomed role, amman iar uses explicit case markings to indicate an
A-function argument of low animacy or a P-function argument of high
animacy. Thus unmarked nominals are represented by the prototypically
high animacy 1st and 2nd person pronouns in A-function using the
zero-morph nominative case and prototypically low animacy nouns in
P-function using the zero-morph absolutive case. Exceptions to these
prototypes are marked forms. Thus the accusative case (-in) is used to
mark low animacy 1st and 2nd person pronouns, 3rd person pronouns and
demonstratives in P-function and the ergative case (-e) is used to mark
high-animacy nouns, 3rd person pronouns and demonstratives in
A-function. >>

    Very fine explanation; this makes sense to me.  I initially raised my
question because the only form in which I'd heard of split ergativity was
where a language had nominative marking in the present and ergative marking
in the past.  Thanks!

-David

"fawiT, Gug&g, tSagZil-a-Gariz, waj min DidZejsat wazid..."
"Soft, driven, slow and mad, like some new language..."
                    -Jim Morrison