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Re: Ergative?

From:John Cowan <jcowan@...>
Date:Thursday, September 27, 2001, 15:03
Irina Rempt wrote:


> Comitative would only mean that he had the sword with him > ("accompanied by a sword"), and would say nothing about whether he > actually killed the dragon with it.
I remember reading, years ago, about a translation gaffe in which the English sentence "The suspect was said to have been beaten by a policeman with a billy-club" was rendered into (some language) with "billy-club" in the comitative rather than the instrumental, as if the billy-club had been the policeman's partner in the action! -- Not to perambulate || John Cowan <jcowan@...> the corridors || http://www.reutershealth.com during the hours of repose || http://www.ccil.org/~cowan in the boots of ascension. \\ Sign in Austrian ski-resort hotel