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Re: Polysynth Question

From:Jeffrey Jones <jsjonesmiami@...>
Date:Thursday, April 12, 2007, 5:59
On Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:13:17 -0600, Dirk Elzinga <dirk.elzinga@...>
wrote:

>Thanks for the reminder, Jeff.
You're welcome.
>You asked three things, as I recall: 1) more on psych predicates, 2) >switch reference and transitivity, and 3) third person acting on a >second person. > >1) Predicates of perception or mental states are formed by suffixing >the possessive markers to stems; this creates intransitive predicates. >The possessive affixes are: > >-wa 1st person >-ku 2nd person >se- 3rd person > >The first and second person possessives are suffixes; the third person >possessive is a prefix. Here are some examples of psych predicates >using the stem 'pite': > >pitte -ka -wa >see(IMPF) -IMPF -1poss >'I see him.' (lit: 'he is my seeing') > >(This form of the stem is the one used for imperfectives / indefinites.) > >pittekaku >pitte -ka -ku >see:IMPF -IMPF -2poss >'You see him.' (lit: 'he is your seeing') > >sepitteka >se- pitte -ka >3poss- see:IMPF -IMPF >'He sees him.' (lit: 'he is his seeing.') > >pitewa etukkana >pite -wa e= tukkana >see -1poss SS= thrush:IMPF >'I watched a thrush.' (lit: 'a thrush was my seeing') > >All of these clauses are intransitive. In principle, it should be >possible to make any of them transitive by adding the transitive >prefix n-, but I don't know what it would mean to do this. Other psych >predicate stems include: > >enga 'fear' >ama 'feel' >napa 'hear' >weti 'know' >sunu 'learn' >supa 'like, love; please' >sua 'look' >nangu 'remember' >nusi 'smell' >huyu 'understand' > >2) I believe that the switch reference markers can appear with >transitive predicates. I can't find any examples, which I believe is >due to how I seem to be constructing sentences in Miapimoquitch. In >the longest passage I have (the story "Eye Juggler"), each new >"sentence" begins with a transitive predicate to which are adjoined >intransitive predicates. The intransitive predicates are introduced by >the switch reference markers. The next transitive predicate can be >introduced by an 'and' proclitic, but I don't have any switch >reference markers in this position. This merits some more thought. So >for now, I'd have to say that I think that a transitive sentence can >be introduced by a switch reference markers, but that the corpus is >not sufficiently developed for me to say this with certainty. (Before >you ask, I don't have the story in a finished form anymore; I tinkered >with it a while ago, but I can't remember if I finished revising it, >and I don't have lots of time for this sort of thing right now. It'll >have to wait for the end of semester.) > >3) As for a third person acting on a second person, this is >accomplished by replacing the transitivity marker n- with the inverse >marker l-, as in the following: > >pitewa akulkippeka >pite -wa a= ku= l- kippe -ka >see -1poss DS= 2>3= INV- poke:IMPF -IMPF >'I saw him--he was poking you.' > >(Here's an example of a transitive sentence cooccuring with a switch >reference marker.) > >In the 'poking' predicate, the person marker ku= involves both a >second person and a third person when transitive. The person hierarchy >is 2>1>3(>3'), so this marker normally corrsponds to a second person >acting on a third person. The inverse marker reverses the person >hierarchy so that it is now interpreted as a third person acting on a >second person. > >I hope that answered your questions; let me know if it wasn't clear, >and I can try again. > >Dirk
It's very clear except for one thing: what happens when, say, 2nd person is _seen_ by 1st person. Does "see" take both affixes, the possessive (-wa) and the regular one (ku-)? I hope my question is clear. Jeff

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Dirk Elzinga <dirk.elzinga@...>