Re: Natural Order of Events
| From: | Gary Shannon <fiziwig@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Thursday, November 6, 2008, 23:02 |
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--- On Thu, 11/6/08, David J. Peterson <dedalvs@...> wrote:
> Gary:
> <<
> dog man jumps-over
> man dog jumps-over
>
> I seem to want to read those as:
>
> dog TOPIC; man jumps-over (COMMENT)
> man TOPIC; dog jumps-over (COMMENT)
> >>
>
> That's precisely how they would be interpreted in ASL
> (though,
> of course, the comment would need to be accompanied by
> raised
> eyebrows).
After a little more thought, that does seem the most logical interpretation.
Consider the sequence of events in a carnival side show:
First there is the man, then the dog runs in, and then the dog jumps over the man.
The words reflect the order of appearance of the things and actions they
portray: man dog jump.
In addition, consider this sentence in English: I saw the man the dog jumped
over. Same order: man dog jumped.
Perhaps that was the first word order of the first proto language and survives today
in topic-prominent languages.
The curious question is why it seems to be correct to say either: "Me bull
speared." or "Bull me speared." and they convey the same meaning. Probably
because bulls do not have opposable thumbs. Yet "Bull me gore." "Me bull gore."
seem to make the opposite assignments.
--gary
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