Re: congrammar update

Lasailly wrote:
>indonesian posessif -nya tricks.>
        One of the most useful and fun constructions in all creation.  (1)A
useful way of avoiding longish derived forms-- pikirnya 'his thought; he
thinks...'   for pikirannya; gelapnya 'blackness' for kegelapan; (2)makes
nouns definite (in discourse)-- dimana sajinya 'where's the ladle?' (as
you're about to serve the soup); (3)and those mysterious things like--
seadanya (se- 'one, a', ada 'there is') 'that's the way it is, that's the
situation', semestinya (mesti 'must') 'that's the way it has to be, that's
what's required'...
        Kash does (1) a lot, (2) occasionally; (3) not yet.

>i also use topical construction to avoid the verbal
>passive form like in colloquial french "l'anglais on l'apprend à l'école"
>instead of formal "l'anglais est appris/enseigné à l'école".>
        Likewise in Kash, which has no formal passive at all.
(snip.....)

>suba mai neju
>"house of man"
>the man's house
>
>neju suba-n
>man house-POS
>"man his house"
>the man's house>
        Is there some difference here, or just alternative ways of saying
it?  Like Indo. rumah orang vs. orang punya rumah (this last is
characteristic of Moluccan dialects); one also hears rumahnya orang,
probably a Javanism or other regional influence.  That construction is
standard in many other languages, e.g. Buginese bola/na Ali 'Ali's house'.
Kash marks the genitive (-i), so puna kashi;  I think I'll use something
like the Bug. for non-animate possessors-- ekamash/ni ange 'the leaves of
the tree' rather than ekamash ange(y)i

>neju a-n jika suba i-n nali lono-n
>man TOP-S inhabit house SUB-S long roof-POS
>"man he lives in house that long its roof"
>the man lives in a house with a long roof
        Kash:   ...ri puna re (which, that, Ind. yang) is-long roof-ni,
though possibly ...ri puna roof long-ni "house _of a long roof_" ie. [house
[REL S]] vs. [house [ADJ roof-long-GEN]]  (this needs more work!)

>suba i neju jika-n ia-n nali lono-n
>house SUB man inhabit-O RES-S long roof-POS
>"house it man inhabit-it it long roof-its"
>the house where the man lives has a long roof
        Kash:  puna(y)e [DAT]  re man lives there roof long.