Re: Fiat Lux

On Sat, 23 Jun 2001, Shreyas Sampat wrote:

>: >Interesting; I've never seen this form as a 2nd person command.
>:
>: Listen to impatient parents trying to get their dawdling kids on
>: the move: "Let's go!" Morphologically 1st person, but solely
>: directed at the second person.
>:
>: Padraic.
>
>Ah.  I see this still as a 1p-pl command, because it's used where it's
>implied that the speaker is going also, though the speaker is *already*
>trying to go and only the second person is actually in need of being
>commanded.
Well, that's not how I've understood it used. Mostly on account
of the fact that, semantically, the parent is not part of the
command. This is in contrast to the other examples given, like
"let's eat", "let us pray", etc., where the speaker is _also_
in need of command - since the speaker hasn't yet eaten or
prayed. The harried parent in the example is often already
walking.

>The case where the speaker isn't actually participating in the
>action, I realize now, exists also (though I've always found that usage
>rather rude.  A simple "hurry up" would do nicely.)
Better than some variants I've heard, I assure you!

Padraic.

>Shreyas