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Re: Referent Tracking

From:Carsten Becker <naranoieati@...>
Date:Sunday, November 27, 2005, 21:13
On Sat, 26 Nov 2005, 19:55 CET, Chris Bates wrote:

[ explanation snipped ]

/me bangs head on the table

I have to read that again when I've got more time -- didn't
understand everything.

> 1) are your triggers the syntactic pivot of the clause?
What is a syntactic pivot? Sorry, but I haven't got Trask on my shelf.
> 2) what factors are involved in the choice of trigger?
Good question. When doing something quickly, I can't get rid of always marking the agent as trigger, making it some sort of subject. When I think a bit harder, I often choose the patient or an oblique object to be the trigger. As I understand it, *the* argument of the sentence gets the trigger that shall be emphasized. Whether this is the topic or the comment (new info vs. old info) is not set.
> [If you want to read more about trigger vs topic vs > subject in Tagalog, I suggest you read a paper in the > book: > > Subject and Topic > Edited by: Charles Li > > If you can get hold of it, that is]
The problem is, I've planned to study after school and scientific books you usually don't get at the local library. The only chance to get this is *buying* it at Amazon.
> Oops, you pretty much answered question (1) in your reply > before, so I guess (2) just remains. But, can I ask... > does your language try to retain trigger (and thus perhaps > topic) continuity over long stretches of dialogue?
I haven't yet composed "long streches of dialogue". As long as both speakers are o fthe opinion that the triggered argument is still the most important ... I'd say triggering an argument might last some sentences, but not so very long. Carsten -- Keywords: trigger_systems "Miranayam cepauarà naranoaris." (Calvin nay Hobbes)