Re: Cookbook title

On Tue, 10 Jul 2001, Lars Henrik Mathiesen wrote:

> > Date:         Tue, 10 Jul 2001 01:48:44 -0400
> > From: Shreyas Sampat <nsampat@...>
> >
> > : > >Karmontu Tutas
> > : > >
> > : > >Which can mean either "Cooking for the People"
> > : > >Or
> > : > >"Cooking the People."
> >
> > What sort of mystical construction makes this possible?
>
> Any language where direct and indirect objects take the same case, and
> to cook happens to be a ditransitive verb.
Yup.  Karmom, which means "bake," really, takes an object in the genitive.
The genitive can also be used as a benefactive case.  So there's some
ambiguity.  (I used karmom instead of pelom, "cook," because pelom takes
its object in the accusative.)

> Like in English, where you can omit either oblique argument of the
> verb to serve, without any surface indication of which is left:
>
>      I'll serve the children the fish now.
>      I'll serve the children now.
>      I'll serve the fish now.
>
> (While you can say "I cooked my sister a fish dinner" in English, you
> will find that "I cooked for my sister" works best).
>
> Also see To Serve Man: A Cookbook for People, ISBN 1880448823.
>
> Lars Mathiesen (U of Copenhagen CS Dep) <thorinn@...> (Humour NOT marked)
>

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