Re: Polysynth Question

On Tue, 3 Apr 2007 11:39:56 -0600, Dirk Elzinga <dirk.elzinga@...>
wrote:
>On 4/2/07, Jeffrey Jones <jsjonesmiami@...> wrote:
>> On Wed, 28 Mar 2007 09:47:13 -0600, Dirk Elzinga
<dirk.elzinga@...>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> >isea kaasuptekateka asewekenki yunanai weppeptekatekahu i aukai
>> >
>> >n- sea kaasu -pte -ka -teka a= se- -ek- wenki
>> >TR- out.of remove:U -eye -UN -DIST DS= 3POSS- -COLL- eye
>> >
>> >yu= n- anai weppe -pte -ka -teka -hu i a= ukai
>> >AND= TR- upwards throw:U -eye -UN -DIST -away.from OBL DS= sky
>> >
>> >'they were taking out their eyes and throwing them up into the air'
>>
>
>Yes, the third person is unmarked. The switch reference markers are
>the proclitics e= 'same subject' (no examples in these sentences) and
>a= 'different subject'. There is also a transitive marker n-. When
>present, the first person clitic wa= is interpreted as first person
>acting on third person; the second person clitic ku= is interpreted as
>second person acting on third person. The clitic le= is used only in
>transitive predicates and indicates second person acting on first
>person. The possessive prefix se- is used to mark third person
>possession and the experiencer of "psych" predicates--predicates of
>sensory perception or mental activity (love, think, etc). A psych
>predicate is generally intransitive; the formal subject of a psych
>predicate is the theme.
>
>Dirk
Thanks -- I had forgotten, and I don't think I knew about the se- prefix. Do
you have any examples of psych predicates? Also, can the switch-reference
markers appear with the transitive marker? What happens when the same 3rd
person acts on, say, the 2nd person? I hope I'm not annoying with all these
questions.

Jeff

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