Re: Saalangal stuff

Barry Garcia wrote:

> In Saalangal, it is considered impolite to focus on the actions of
> another. Hence, when talking about what someone else did, the patient
> trigger is used. However, if the other person is a subordinate, or
just
> someone you dont care much about :), the agent trigger is used when
> talking about what they've done.
>
> The agent trigger is used when talking about what you've done, unless
> you're discussing what you've done to a superior (i liken the rules to
> knowing when exactly to use it like the use of the subjunctive and
> imperfect im Spanish (for me at least :)).
Very cool! It reminds me of something in Central Pomo (which
I might have mentioned before).

For some predicates, like the ones in (1) to (4) below, a Patient
pronoun is used for first person, but an Agent pronoun is used for
third persons. This is because speakers don't want to claim they
feel what another person is feeling.

(1)   Ho mt'a to    'I:PAT feel warm.'

(2)   Ho mt'a mul   'He:AGT feels warm.'

(3)   Shya?'a to    'I:PAT am afraid.'

(4)   Shya?'a mul   'He:AGT is afraid.'

One more thing to notice about Central Pomo is that one can also
choose to use the Agent pronoun, if one wants to just state a fact,
without paying any attention to the affectedness of the person(s)
involved in the action. Which is kinda cool. :)

||| daniel