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

On 6/18/07, Jeff Rollin <jeff.rollin@...> wrote:
> 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").
Consider also the difference between "Es sind Enten bei uns im Teich"
and "Es gibt Enten bei uns im Teich".

If you add a word to it, the "es" disappears in the first case ("Heute
sind Enten bei uns im Teich") but not in the second ("Heute gibt es
Enten bei uns im Teich").

I'm not sure of the significance of this though, i.e. how to explain
it in grammatical terms, nor why the two constructions act
differently, or how to tell off-hand whether a  given "es" is of the
first type or the second.

Cheers,
--
Philip Newton <philip.newton@...>