Re: arguments

Hi!

# 1 <salut_vous_autre@...> writes:
> This is a question about the arguments with which a verb may agree:
>
> A verb may agree with the subject, the object, or both depending of the
> language, but would it be possible to have a language that agrees with some
> of the other arguments?
Yes, usually with the indirect object (often 'dative' case).  I'd
think some Caucasian langs do this and probably some others, too.

To get back to old stories: doesn't spoken French do this?  I'm not
too good in French, so you should check yourself:

   Toi, tu ne me le dit pas, l'histoire.

The 'verb' would be 'tu-ne-me-le-dit', which agrees with subject,
object, and codes the indirect object, too.  But probably this is not
possible when trying to topicalize 'a moi':

   *A moi, tu ne me le dit pas, l'histoire.

But how about:
   ?Moi, tu ne me le dit pas, l'histoire.

Sorry if this is crap -- my French is quite rusty.

> having a verb inflected to agree with the oblique or the beneficier
> argument would be possible
Yes, why not.

> In a sentence without subject (to rain), the verb has no inflection
> For an intransitive verb, it agrees with the subject
>
> With a transitive verb with a subject and an object, it agrees with the
> object
>
> For a verb with a subject and a beneficier, it agrees with the beneficier
Aha -- interesting.  Usually those languages tend to agree with the
subject in all three situations, with the object in any situation
where it's present and also with the indirect object where it's
present.

> When a verb has a subject and two other arguments, it agrees with these two
>
> But, when a verb has a subject, a direct and an indirect object, and a
> beneficier, it doesn't aggree at all
This would be strange, then, I think.

**Henrik

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