Lahabic Syntax

These daily translations made me realize that a hadn't thought sufficiently
about Lahabic syntax. Here is the (almost) completed system. It owes some
influence to the discussions on Nur-Ellen and Boreanasian.
Lahabic is VSO, prepositional, nominative/accusative.

Go!
hiyikeii'l!
hiyik-ei-i'l
go-subj-2sgfut

Girl, go!
thale'drakwa hiyikeii'l
thale'dra-kwa hiyik-ei-i'l
girl-loc go-subj-2sgfut

The girl walks.
hiyikeima'n thale'drakhe
hiyik-eim-a'n thale'dra-khe
go-ind-3sgpres girl-nomsg

The beuatiful girl walks.
hiyikeima'n thale'drakhe deloudhakhe
hiyik-eim-a'n thale'dra-khe delou-dha-khe
go-ind-3sgpres girl-nomsg beautiful-adj-nomsg

The girl walks quickly.
hiyikeima'n ghwimaro'nde thale'drakhe
hiyik-eim-a'n ghwimar-o'nde thale'dra-khe
go-ind-3sgpres many-adv girl-nomsg

The girl walks quickly towards the cave.
hiyikeima'n ghwimaro'nde ya gwounato'r thale'drakhe
hiyik-eim-a'n ghwimar-o'nde ya gwounato'r thale'dra-khe
go-ind-3sgpres many-adv towards cave-accsg girl-nomsg

Note the positions of the prepositional phrase in the two preceeding and
succeeding sentences.

The girl sees the animal in the cave.
tyaieneima'n thale'drakhe garedrakwoz ho'l gwounapo
tyaien-eim-a'n thale'dra-khe garedra-kwoz ho'l gwouna-po
see-ind-3sgpres girl-nomsg animal-gensg in cave-locsg

Animates use the genitive case for direct object, inanimates the accusative.

The girl sees the stone.
tyaieneima'n thale'drakhe meretato'r
tyaien-eim-a'n thale'dra-khe mereta-to'r
see-ind-3sgpres girl-nomsg stone-accsg

The boy gives the animal to the girl.
dyama'meima'n tyadadrakhe garedrakwoz thale'drakwa
dyama'm-eim-a'n tyadadra-khe garedra-kwoz thale'drakwa
give-ind-3sgpres girl-nomsg animal-gensg girl-datsg

The boy gives the stone to the girl.
dyama'meima'n tyadadrakhe meretato'r thale'drakwa
dyama'm-eim-a'n thale'dra-khe mereta-to'r thale'dra-kwa
give-ind-3sgpres boy-nomsg stone-accsg girl-datsg

The boy wants to go.
dharabeima'n tyadadrakhe hiyikeiso'
dharab-eim-a'n tyadadra-khe hiyik-eiso'
want-ind-3sgpres boy-nomsg go-inf
OR
dharabeima'n tyadadrakhe hiyikato'r
dharab-eim-a'n tyadadra-khe hiyika-to'r
want-ind-3sgpres boy-nomsg going-accsg
lit., the boy wants the going.

Note that hiyikeiso', like hiyikato'r, fills the slot for the direct object.

The boy wants to see the girl
dharabeima'n tyadadrakhe tyaienato'r thale'drakwoz
dharab-eim-a'n tyadadra-khe tyaiena-to'r thale'dra-kwoz
give-ind-3sgpres boy-nomsg seeing-accsg girl-gensg
lit., the boy wants the seeing of the girl.

'Girl' is genitive because in the direct object of 'seeing', which is the
direct object of 'want'.

The boy wants the girl to see.
dharabeima'n tyadadrakhe tyaienato'r thale'drakwa
dharab-eim-a'n tyadadra-khe tyaiena-to'r thale'dra-kwa
give-ind-3sgpres boy-nomsg seeing-accsg girl-datsg
lit., the boy wants the seeing for the girl.

'Girl' is in the dative here because the seeing is presumed, grammatically
at least, to be of benefit to the girl. The dative also presumes a more
active role than the genitive or accusative.

The boy wants the girl to see the animal.
dharabeima'n tyadadrakhe tyaienato'r thale'drakwa garedrakwoz
dharab-eim-a'n tyadadra-khe tyaiena-to'r thale'dra-kwoz garedra-kwoz
give-ind-3sgpres boy-nomsg seeing-accsg girl-datsg animal-gensg
lit., the boy wants the seeing for the girl of the animal.
'Animal' is either 1)a straightforward genitive of or 2)the direct object of
the suborditate verb-turned-noun/participle 'seeing'

The boy wants the girl to see the stone.
dharabeima'n tyadadrakhe tyaienato'r thale'drakwa meretato'r
dharab-eim-a'n tyadadra-khe tyaiena-to'r mereta-to'r
give-ind-3sgpres boy-nomsg seeing-accsg girl-datsg stone-acc
lit., the boy wants the seeing for the girl of the stone.

The inanimate example suggests that conjecture 2) above is the correct one.
_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at
http://profiles.msn.com.