Re: VOS
From: | Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...> |
Date: | Thursday, April 27, 2000, 21:23 |
Jim Grossmann wrote:
> I've heard the name of the language, but did not know that it has ergativity
> that isn't morphologically marked.
It is morphologically marked in nouns and in third person pronouns (I'm
not sure about the 3rd person pronouns). In first and second person
pronouns (and perhaps 3rd person?), it's accusative marking.
> However, I see no reason why we couldn't turn everything
> around.
>
> SALLY SAW BILLY = Billy saw Sally.
> SALLY JUMPED = Sally jumped.
I think Erg Verb Abs makes more sense. The agent of a transitive
sentence is usually the focus, and would make more sense to be at the
beginning.
--
"If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men
believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of
the city of God!" - Ralph Waldo Emerson
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