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Re: Ergative?

From:Matthew Kehrt <matrix14@...>
Date:Thursday, September 27, 2001, 15:27
Nono!
Sorry I confused you.  'Boy' is not in the mystery case, which means, I
guess, that it's instrumental.

Here is a simple interlinear; I hope it clears things up:

Éyaverog                silen   negeth.
Jabberwock-accusative   boy-nom kill-past-3rd

Ilelés        éyaverog                silen     negeth.
Sword-mystery jabberwock-accusative   boy-nom   kill-past-3rd

Hope that helps.  Sorry for the confusion.
-M

Nik Taylor wrote:

> Sounds like this is a case which combines ergative and instrumental. > Instrumental is a case used to indicate the instrument with which an > action was done, like "sword" there. However, that term is not normally > used for the case of "the boy" in the first sentence. I have a > question, what's the interlinear of your two examples? Is it something > like "Boy-(mystery case) kill-past jabberwock" and "Sword-(mystery case) > boy-(mystery case) kill-past jabberwock"? What is the case used for > Jabberwock in those sentences? Is it the same case as for "The > jabberwock died"? If so, I'd call that absolutive, and your mystery > case I would call either ergative or instrumental, either one works > since it appears to fill both functions. > > -- > "No just cause can be advanced by terror" > ICQ: 18656696 > AIM Screen-Name: NikTaylor42

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Frank George Valoczy <valoczy@...>