Re: of cakes and men -- doraya syntax

Adam Parrish wrote:
>
>         Okay, so, here's the deal: I've noticed a new pattern of
> movement in Doraya's main clauses.  However, I'm not sure a) if it's
> naturalistic (though it seems to look much like a similar sort of thing
> in Castilian Spanish) and b) how exactly it works, or at least, how to
> describe it coherently.  So allow me to present some examples; comment
> and suggest as you will:
>
[all examples snipped]

        As I see it, Doraya would be a VSO language where the position in front
of the verb is available for topicalisation (like my Chasma"o"cho) or
old information, in which case the fronted noun or nouns must be
recalled by a pronoun after the verb. On the other hand, a pronoun
always refer to old information, so if its antecedent is not in the
sentence itself, the pronoun must be put in front of the verb, even when
it's a contracted form of two pronouns where only one refers to old
information not in the sentence. Do I understand it right?

        Well, I don't feel it is unnaturalistic, even if I cannot see any
examples in natural languages. I find it a very natural way to do it (a
little like the object being after the verb in French, except in pronoun
form or topicalised). I think some examples of spoken French that
Mathias has already given fit well this behaviour, so maybe there is
indeed a precedent in a natlang. So go for it, it appears very natural
(at least for me).

        Just one last question: could the 10th sentence be put like this:

        kos rianui tyepylen tasa.
        person cake.TOP eat.perf 3ps.3pn
        The person ate the cake.

or is it ungrammatical? In my understanding of this pattern, this last
sentence is perfectly possible, unless you have an additional rule that
says that compounded pronouns must be put in front of the verb anyway.
Go for what you prefer!

--
        Christophe Grandsire

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