Re: LC-01 genitive noun phrases

<<However, a problem arises.  Does _sngakang kalat_ mean "his black cat"
or "the cat of the black one"?  I'm loathe to make such a basic
formation so ambiguous, although if anyone has any ideas on how this
could be handled pragmatically, I'd be interested to hear them.>>

Why not "sngakang skalat"?   This could be a case like in English: You can't 
say *picker up, and you can't say *pick upper, so you have to say "picker 
upper".   (Incidentally, you could never get an Arabic root with three velars 
right in a row, though this is hypothetical, since [many varieties of] Arabic only 
[have] has one velar: /k/.   Nevertheless, there are definite restrictions on 
the first two consonants in any root.)

Though, if you wanted to play it like Arabic, then you'd probably get 
"ngakang skalat".   It'd be like Arabic's "genitive" construction where the only 
thing marked is the very last noun:

1.) bint as-s?adiiq /girl def.-friend/ "The daughter of the friend."
2.) bint waalid as-s?adiiq /girl father def.-friend/ "The daughter of the 
father of the friend."
3.) bint waalid zamiil as-s?adiiq /girl father colleague def.-friend/ "The 
daughter of the father of the colleague of the friend."

Here the definite article marks the genitive.   Anything before it that *had* 
a definite article would be understood to not be a part of the genitive 
string.   Example:

4.) bint al-waalid zamiil as-s?adiiq /girl def.-father colleague def.-friend/ 
  "The daughter of the father is the colleague of the friend"   (Null copula 
in Arabic.)

-David

P.S.: In case you've heard about the fires going on in San Diego, I'm right 
where they can't get me, which is right next to UCSD.   If you know of anyone 
else in the San Diego area, though, I wish them all the luck in all the world.  
 I already know of one person who's lost her home (staff member in our 
department).

Replies