Re: Verb/Noun Combos?

Ysgrifenodd Nik Taylor:
>michael poxon wrote:
> >
> > Yes, Welsh has this; or at least, after a fashion. Some books even call
> them
> > 'verb-nouns'
>
>What are these "verb-nouns" and how are they used?  Are they things that
>translate as, say, "eat a sandwich" or are they words that can be either
>noun or verb depending on context, like English words such as "walk",
>"water", "drink", etc.?
As I understand it, they are nominal formations on a verbal stem which are
used where other languages use an infinitive. One interesting aspect of
this is that instead of an "accusative and infinitive" construction, the
Celtic languages (the only I-E languages with  verb-nouns, AFAIK) have a
"genitive and verb-noun" construction, to wantonly paraphrase Latinate
grammar. For example, "You think me to be stupid" or "credes me stultum
esse" is "wyt ti'n meddwl fy mod i'n twp" or, literally "You think my being
stupid".

Dan
>
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