Re: Mir ist kalt -- How to analyze this sentence?

In the last episode, (On Monday 02 Tamuz 5767 18:24:02), Carsten Becker wrote:
> Hi,
>
> The topic already says it all. How do I analyze the sentence
> "Mir ist kalt"? That's German for "I feel cold", and breaks
> down into 1sg.DAT is cold. But what is the subject in this
> sentence? "Kalt", despite it's an adjective?
>
Most languages seem to have sentences in which there is "no subject", such as
the English "it's raining" - what is the "it" referring to in this sentence?
If it's "the sky", or "the clouds", how come "the sky is raining" and "the
clouds are raining" are odd sentences? If it's "God", how come we don't
say "He is raining" or "It maketh me to lie down in green pastures" (and what
about atheists?)?

In English, of course, we stick an "it" in because every sentence must have a
noun or a pronoun as subject. Other languages (such as Spanish), don't
bother: "Habla" means "he/she is speaking" and "llueve" means "It's raining".
(Pronouns exist, but are used for emphasis only: "Habla - he/she is
speaking"; "Él habla - /He/ is speaking." German seems to be in between the
two in using pronouns where there is a "real" subject "_Ich_ bin/_du_
bist/_er_ ist_ Deutscher" (I am/you are/he is German") but none where there
is no real subject - Thus "Mir ist kalt" vs. *"Es ist mir kalt". (The change
in word order being due to the emphasis on "mir").

HTH

Jeff

--
"Please understand that there are small
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