Re: Verb/Noun Combos?

E. Notagain wrote at 2003-03-16 01:32:32 (-0500)
 > Are there any natlangs that have a verb and noun combined into one word?
 > I'm not talking about the agglutinative languages (which absolutely terrify
 > me). My brain isn't functioning (I just went on a day trip from south-of-
 > Cleveland to Chicago), so I can't remember the word I wanted to use, but an
 > example is: I'd like my newest language to have words that function as both
 > verbs and nouns at the same time. Hey, Meisteik has a particle that fills
 > in when the verb or noun is already known, implied, not important, sounds
 > wrong; or is occasionally used as a form of "to be" (Meisteik has
 > absolutely no other way to express it); why not a conlang with verb-noun
 > hybrid?
 >
I'm not sure exactly what you mean.  There are polysynthetic languages
which have object-incorporation, where the object of a verb can become
part of the verb, so you have a compound.  Eg., in the Siberian
language Chukchi, here is the same statement twice, first with the
object seperate from the verb, then incorporated into it:

a.
ytlyg-e tym-nene-t qaa-t
father-ERG killed-3SG/3PL deer-ABS/PL

b.
ytlyg-yn qaa-tym-g?e
father-ABS deer-killed-3SG

'The father killed the deer.'


But that's probably not what you're talking about, as polysynthetic
languages are generally scarier than those that are merely
agglutinative.

Of course, in many isolating languages you have words that can be
either a noun or  a verb, like "walk" in English.  But presumably
that's not what you meant either - it's only one or the other at any
one time (and I'd imagine you're sufficiently familiar with English).


 > If this is hard to understand or just plain idiotic, sorry. As I said, we
 > went to Chicago today, and I think my brain got scrambled from riding in
 > the car for twelve hours. With my dad driving. *shudders*
 >
 > -- Erin Notagain --
 >

Hehe.  Maybe you could give a clearer example of your "verb-noun
hybrid" once your brain has reconstituted itself?  (Unless someone
else here understood you better than I did.)