Re: "Free" word order (was Re: Greek definite article (was Re: Addendum: a holy spirit))

On Tuesday 14 Dec 2004 08:06, Chris Bates wrote:
> >That is my impression as well. Either order would work, though -- "to
> >pnevma einai ayio" would be the usual form (the spirit is holy), but
> >"ayio einai to pnevma" would correspond, as in English, to the marked
> >(for emphasis or style) "holy is the spirit".
>
> Don't you just love "free" word order languages? Out of interest, how
> many people have current conlangs with word order determined by
> pragmatics rather than a fixed word order?
>
Me! Me!

> And if focus/topic/other
> factor determine your word order, have you worked out the rules in
> detail? What's the focus position? Topic position (if there is one)? etc
>
Yep (though I'm not sure it would make sense to others). Details about Gevey
word order, topic/comment handling and the use of focus and focus markers can
all be found on this colourful yet confusing webpage:
   http://www.kalieda.org/gevey/focus.html

Rik