Re: Marking and Imperatives

Taliesin wrote:

>> Still, that introduces an interesting question: *are* there languages
>> where 1st person singular is unmarked in performative verbs?
>
>AFMCL, the verb isn't marked for person, unless it is in a relative
>clause. Furthermore, the 1st person pronoun is only used for emphasis
>and when the 1st p. is not the agent, but needs to be marked for case.
>Funny, I don't have a verb 'to thank' yet...
In Tokana, I frequently leave off the first person subject with verbs of
thinking and saying:  When a sentence expresses a point of view, and
it's not made explicit whose point of view it is, it's assumed to be
the speaker's point of view:  For example, "I think that John has left"
would be rendered "Opa nelhukanne Tsion", literally "Think that-he-has-
left John".

BTW, the Tokana expression meaning "thank you" is "niokteh telanko",
which means "may your kindness return (to you)".  The conventional
reply is "aleima niokteh", which means "it has already returned" -
in other words, your kindness in thanking me amply repays my kindness
in helping you.

Matt.