Re: ON TOPIC POST - ANADEWISM?

Peter Clark sikyal:

>         Sorry for the caps, but in this blizzard of off-topic posts, I want to make
> sure that my pitiful effort at a topical message is noticed by someone[1].
>         So there I was in the library yesterday, skimming through a "501 Japanese
> Verbs" book, when I had a flash of inspiration: why not a verb form that
> indicates co-action? That is, that the subject's action was helped, aided, or
> jointly participated in by another agent, hitherto unnamed? For example:
>
> 1a. Last night, I made dinner. (I, and only I, made dinner, all by myself.)
> 1b. Last night, I mades dinner. (I cooked dinner, but my wife made a salad).
>
> 2a. John and Jane went to the movies last night. (They went together by
> themselves.)
> 2b. John and Jane wents to the movies last night. (They went with a larger
> group of friends, perhaps.)
>
>         So: does a natlang already do it, except worse? And what is it (or should it
> be) called?
I know of no natlang that does this, but I wouldn't be surprised if there
were something like it. It might not occur exactly as you
describe--perhaps, for example, it could be part of a "distributive" verb
form.

As for what to name it--I'd use "cooperative".


Jesse S. Bangs jaspax@u.washington.edu
http://students.washington.edu/jaspax/
http://students.washington.edu/jaspax/blog

Jesus asked them, "Who do you say that I am?"

And they answered, "You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground
of our being, the kerygma in which we find the ultimate meaning of our
interpersonal relationship."

And Jesus said, "What?"