Re: Construct States

In a message dated 3/2/99 7:18:48 PM Eastern Standard Time, mpearson@UCLA.=
EDU
writes:

> Malagasy has something similar to the construct state.  To form
>  a possessive construction, you add the suffix "-n" to the possessed
>  noun.  The noun phrase denoting the possessor follows the possessed
>  noun, and forms a phonological word with the possessed noun (usually
>  indicated in the orthography by writing the possessed noun and the
>  first word of the possessor as a single word, in some cases separated
>  by an apostrophe or a hyphen):
elv ned m's system is close to this; the suffix -il is applied to the
possessed.  when used with pronouns, however, the nominative form of the
pronouns and the -il suffix have collapsed:

my child(deng)- dengil es>denggilz
your house(la)- layl em> la'ilm
its entrance(dloon)- dloonil reng> dlooneng
our sister(=F3rm)- =F3rmil du> =F3rmild
y'all's job(bok)- bokil bu> bokib
their [free-]time(oob)- oobil gu> ooblyoo

there is, as i now envision elv, some extensive sound changes when certain
suffixes are added, though other suffixes (the dative suffix, for example =
(not
declension, these particles havent become permanently affixed yet)) cause =
no
sound change which is evident in written elv or all but the most dialectiz=
ed
dialects.

pacs precs
Joe Mondello