Re: Circumfixes?

Steg Belsky wrote:

> The 'destination' case (what's the real word?) is today mostly found in
> the fossilized form _habayta_, "homewards":
>
> labayit (le-ha-bayit) = to the house
> habayta (ha-bayit-a) = to home
>
> even though you'd expect them to mean the exact same thing.
The real word is "dative" (or perhaps "allative").  Interestingly, Tokana
makes a similar distinction between "at/to the home" and "(at/to) home",
with the second one being irregular:

  ite' moke  "at/to the home" (lit. hearth)
  Me etai moke  "I am going to the hearth/home"

  imoik  "at/to home"
  Me eta imoik  "I am going home"

There are two other irregular datives formed in this way, "ilain" = "en
route" (from "lan" = "path") and "ikiel" = "while dreaming, in one's dreams"
(from "kiel" = "place of dreams").  Cf. the regular datives "ite' lane" =
"on/to the path" and "ite' kiele" = "in the dreamworld".

Matt.

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