Jaĩbi update and request for comment s

Hallo!

On Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:17:15 +0100, Christopher Bates wrote:

> [...] If I
> remember correctly, that was something I always used to like about Old
> Albic - it had a nice balance when it came to plain agglutination vs
> other morphological processes.
Thank you!

> > I noticed that your morphosyntax is sensitive of degrees of volition,
> > though it works in a way not very similar to Old Albic.
> >
> >
> Yes, the voice system is very sensitive to volition, and the selection
> of prepositions also depends on it. In terms of similarity to Old Albic,
> there seems to be some similarity between the choice of prepositions in
> Jaĩbi and the choice of case in Old Albic, but the verbal systems do
> seem to differ more.
Indeed.

>       There seem to be semantic differences (in Jaĩbi,
> transitivity does not guarantee the use of a voice indicating volition,
> whereas in Old Albic it seems that all transitive verbs are active),
Yes, in Old Albic all transitive verbs are active.

>       and
> differences in morphological realisation (in Old Albic the distinction
> seems to be primarily marked by choice of agreement marker, whereas in
> Jaĩbi it is marked by choice of a fused voice/mood marker). I also note
> that you have a separate middle voice, whereas in Jaĩbi the middle has
> been integrated into a three term system, which essentially consists of:
>
> Middle - controlled, actor 'version'
> Active - controlled, non-actor 'version'
> Passive - uncontrolled
>
> Presumably the middle marker is compatible with both active and stative
> verbs in Old Albic?
No, only with active verbs.

> I find it interesting that Old Albic also has an animacy distinction,
> although it seems to be grammaticalised (ie a grammatical gender system
> rather than a purely semantic classification).
The majority of nouns in Old Albic are in the class expected
from their semantics, with a small number of semantically
inanimate nouns in the animate class.  Such irregularities
- often motivated by mythology - seem to be typical of
animate/inanimate systems in natlangs, BTW.

>      Jaĩbi has semantic
> classification in various areas based on animacy, and I view the
> sensitivity to volition partly as an extension of the semantic
> classification elsewhere into animate vs inanimate. Animacy of referents
> has an effect on selection of possessive markers, demonstratives,
> prepositions, and a number of other morphemes.
>
> So there are some interesting similarities with Old Albic, but also
> differences. They are both languages which are sensitive to control and
> animacy in the areas of verbal morphology and nominal role marking, but
> the exact distinctions made are not the same.
Yes.

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