Re: 2d case system

>From: Christophe Grandsire <christophe.grandsire@...>
>Reply-To: Constructed Languages List <CONLANG@...>
>To: CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU
>Subject: Re: 2d case system
>Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 23:25:41 +0100
>
>En réponse à Peter Bleackley <Peter.Bleackley@...>:
>
>[snip description]
>
> >
> > My wife's brother inherits his father's spear.
> > AG AIP    AP               PG  PIP      PP
> >
> > Does anyone know of any language which has a similar system?
> >
>
>Not a natlang, and not as thorough as you system, but my languages
>Tj'a-ts'a~n
>and O have something similar, though in different ways. In Tj'a-ts'a~n,
>there
>is a "genitive marker" which marks a noun completing another (and indicates
>where the completed noun is since it's a prefix or a suffix depending on
>whether the possessed nouns is before or after the possessor noun), but the
>possessor must still bear a case mark indicating, in this case, the nature
>of
>the possession implied. The language also has an adjective marker which
>works
>the same way, but creates adjectives instead of possessive nouns.
>
>O has a construct state, or case of the *possessed* noun. Since in this
>case
>the possessed noun stays the center of the noun phrase. the construct state
>prefix is added to an inflected form (or the function case prefix is added
>after the construct state prefix has been added, I don't remember the order
>:
>(( ).
>
>So, nothing quite like what you describe, but the idea is the same. I don't
>know any language that uses such a system, but it sure is an interesting
>one.
>It has shades of case agreement between nouns in the same noun phrases,
>which
>is a nice feature :) .
>
Many Australian languages allow multiple case marking,
e.g. The woman's husband's car was wrecked.
woman-GEN-GEN-ABS husband-GEN-ABS car-ABS wreck-PAST

-Wayne Chevrier







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