Re: Ditransitivity

Quoting Isidora Zamora <isidora@...>:

> At 09:17 PM 12/12/03 -0500, you wrote:
> >For my all-verb language, I'm trying to figure out what to do with
> >ditransitives like "give".  Basically, I see two options: either do
> >away with ditransitives, or add verbal indirect-object marking and a
> >dative case.
> >
> >Does anyone know if there is a way to get rid of ditransitives?  Id you
> >don't want to have indirect objects, how can you deal with concepts
> >like "give"?
>
> Can you get rid of ditransitives by replacing the dative case with an
> adverb?  I mean, instead of having a dative case and marking the IO of the
> verb with the dative case, make the IO of the verb an adverb.  e.g. He gave
> the book John-ly = He gave the book to John.  I realize that this means
> turning a noun or pronoun into an adverb, which is not a normal thing to
> do, in my own experience.
As far as I can see, this would only be a change of PoV; step back to the
traditional view, and English just acquired a dative/benefactive case in -ly.

                                                              Andreas