Re: Referent Tracking

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)