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Re: THEORY: accusativity marking [was Re: Viko Notes Question]

From:Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...>
Date:Saturday, June 29, 2002, 8:49
Philip Newton wrote:
> Wouldn't that have to be "Los perros gustan a Juan", without the "le"? > As I understand it, the "le" is to mark the subject-object reversal and > wouldn't be required if the order is the normal one.
"Le" indicates that there's an indirect object. It can be used with normal order. According to my Spanish Reference Grammar: A redundant pronoun is normally inserted to show that a noun is "involved", by the verb in one of the ways listed in List A at 12.3 (i.e., "receiving", "losing", "advantage", "involvement", etc.*): Esta solución *le* pareció a doña Matilde la más acertada This solution seemed to be the best one to Doña Matilde Bueno, si no *le* dicen a uno cómo hay quen hacerlo ... Well, if they don't tell one how to do it ... A vos *te* la tienen jurada They've got it in for you *Le* puso un nuevo conmutador a la radio He put a new knob on the radio Tráiga*le* un jugo de naranja a la niña Bring the little girl an orange juice Note Omission of the redundant pronoun depersonalizes the indirect object and would be appropriate in formal writing, official documents or business letters when a distant tone is required: Comunique los detalles al señor Presidente "Inform the President of the details", Esto no corresponde a Odradek (J.L. Borges: Odradek is a non-human creature) "This is not a trait of Odradek's", Es necesario dar cera a este tipo de suelo todas las semanas (instruction leaflet, Spain) "This type of floor must be waxed ever week." In most cases the redundant pronoun is used, more so than fifty years ago and always with proper names. Dáselo a Mario "Give it to Mario", Se lo robaron a Julia "They stole it from Juliet" (robar *a* ... "to setal from ...") [Se in those examples is a variation of le] So, anyhoo, the conclusion seems to be that "Los perros le gustan a Juan" would still be the usage either way. *The full list is as follows, ommitting most examples: (a) Receiving or acquiring any thing, impression, or sensation No les es ventajoso It's not advantageous to them Esta chaqueta no le va That jacket doesn't suit him/her Le gusta la miel She/he/it likes honey (b) Loss or removal from (c) Sufficiency, insufficiency, lack, excess (d) Requesting, requiring, ordering (e) Numerous phrases involving _tener_ plus an emotion (altho the equivalent verbs, respetar, temer, etc. may take lo/la/los/las) Le tiene miedo He fears him/her/you (f) Numerous set phrases consisting of _hacer_ plus a noun (g) To indicate persons or things affected by something done to a part of their body or to some intimate possession: ¡Le estás pisando los pies! You're treading on his feet (h) In a number of less easily classified cases which may all be perceived to convey ideas of "giving", "removing", "benefiting", "involving", "affected inimately": Le encontraron mil pesos They found 1000 pesos on her La respuesta de su hija le afectó mucho (lo or le possible in Latin America) His daughter's reply affected him a lot -- "There's no such thing as 'cool'. Everyone's just a big dork or nerd, you just have to find people who are dorky the same way you are." - overheard ICQ: 18656696 AIM Screen-Name: NikTaylor42

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John Cowan <jcowan@...>