Re: More on Lyanjen verbs

Matt McLauchlin wrote:

> OK then, German. (The rationale could be this very problem! I.e. omitting
> the subject turns it into a passivesque construction. Ger skic clairan = She
> breaks the window. Skic clairan = The window gets broken.
Up to here, the matter closely parallels the ways of Nur-ellen (my
conlang).

The examples translate to

He  rist  i   hent.
She break the window
"She breaks the window."

and

Rist  i   hent.
break the window
"The window gets broken."  Literally, "[Someone] breaks the window."

The forms are the same, only the subject is missing.

>       (Clairan skic =
> The window breaks.)
Is there any change of meaning resulting from the reversion of word
order?

Just another way to say the same thing.  Nur-ellen has free word order,
such that this could be translated as _I hent rist_, with the same
meaning as _Rist i hent_.  Note that _hent_ is still in the objective
case - it cannot do otherwise because it is inanimate.  A window cannot
break out of itself, it requires an external impulse to break.

The transitive verb "to break" and the intransitive verb
"to break" = "to get broken" are the same lexeme in Nur-ellen:
the transitive verb _rist_.  As with any transitive verb, the agent
(subject) can be omitted in the sentence.  Such zero-agent sentences
are what in Nur-ellen is used instead of the non-existing passive.

> Too, how about a
> >complete paradigm of a verb in the present tense, so we can see what it
> >looks like?
>
> Present simple/progressive.
>
> First conjugation (verbs ending in an unstressed monophthongal vowel):
> ebnu (to come) (pronouns are in nominative)
>
> ia ebnu     iaja ebnusa
> na ebnub    bua ebnuja
> ga ebn      gaja ebnuga
>
> Participle: ebnand
>
> Second conjugation (all other verbs)
> teuc (to love) (pronouns are in ergative)
>
> iar teuca   iaja teucas
> nar teucab  bua teucaj
> ga teuc     gaja teucag
So if I understand correctly, with some verbs nom/acc marking is used
and
with other erg/abs marking?  Does each noun and pronoun have four
distinct
core cases, namely nominative, accusative, ergative and absolutive,
or am I completely off the track here?  Please enlighten me.

Share and enjoy,
Jörg.