Re: Question about transitivity/intransitivity

> > Unaccusatives, however, can function both as transitives and
> > intransitives:  1) I sink the ship, 2) I sink down.  3) I melted
> > the ice, 4) the ice melted.
>
> The defining characteristic about unaccusatives is that the subject of
> the intransitive is the *patient*, the affected.  "I melt the ice" ->
> "The ice melted"; "The bomber sank the battleship" -> "The battleship
> sank", "I burned the house" -> "The house burned"
>
> But, "I ate the apple" -> "I ate", not *"The apple ate", "I killed the
> spider" -> ?"I killed" ("kill" sounds awkward to me without an object)
>
This made an interesting exercise in Gevey, in particular to show how
causative and applicative subjects affect the verb in different ways.

Using (for the Gevey sentences) [sc] for causative subject and [sa] for
applicative subject, [v] for verb, and [o] for direct object:

     I melt the ice
     Te[sc] yuu gribohp[o] spistrase[v]
     The ice melts
     Gribohpuu[sa] suu spistranti[v]

     I ate the apple
     Te[sc] yuu cuaj[o] fosate[v]
     I ate
     Te[sc] fosate[v]

     The cannon sank the ship
     Kievzhjarhuu[sa] mojuu osemjarh[o] seduu vlakendou[v]
     The ship sank
     Osemjarhuu[sa] modo'seduu vlakendou[v]

Fire in Gevey is a causative subject:
     Fire burned the house down
     Bope[sc] yuu roub[o] kezbopate[v]
     The fire burned
     Bope[sc] kezbopate[v]
     The house burned
     Roubuu[sa] seduu kezbopanti[v]

Rik
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