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Re: Ethical dative (was: Question about transitivity etc.)

From:Henrik Theiling <theiling@...>
Date:Monday, June 2, 2003, 12:15
Hi!

John Cowan <cowan@...> writes:
...
> Actually, it's common in the world's languages. Latin had it, e.g.:
...
> German: Er ist *mir* ein guter Freund = he is a good friend of mine.
I find even more strange a construction:
> Komm mir nicht mit dreckigen Schuhen nach Hause!
come me.DAT not with dirty shoes home Don't come home with dirty shoes! This 'mir' stresses the imperative somehow. I don't know how, but it's almost always used in sentences like that said by parents. :-) But I think it's not feasible when there is a dative supplement: *Gib mir dem Mann das blo

Replies

John Cowan <cowan@...>
Tristan McLeay <kesuari@...>Ethical dative