Re: Greenberg's Word Order Universals
From: | Nik <fortytwo@...> |
Date: | Thursday, September 14, 2000, 23:08 |
Lars Henrik Mathiesen wrote:
> Some nouns have a marked singular, some have a marked plural, none
> have both. (Old French was almost like this at one stage, I think).
In Old French, the nominative singular and the oblique plural of at
least some nouns were marked, and nominative plural and oblique singular
were unmarked. For example:
S P
N fils fil
O fil fils
If French had generalized the nominative, then it would've violated that
universal, I think.
--
Dievas dave dantis; Dievas duos duonos
God gave teeth; God will give bread - Lithuanian proverb
ICQ: 18656696
AIM Screen-Name: NikTailor