Re: deeply embedded VSO nightmare

--- William Annis wrote:
Anyway, to my recent horror I have discovered that due to how Vaior
word order works -- VSO, Noun - Modifier, Adj - Modifier -- that
gigantic ambiguities develop when using participles and relative
clauses.

This is fine:

    tuar-o   va tath-an   daip-oth-an        fid-íal  aldove-n.
    see-PRES I  woman-ACC walk-PRES=PART-ACC fast-ADV home-ACC
    I see a woman walking quickly home.

But this:

    ler-o   na  tath  daip-oth       fid-íal  aldove-n
    go-PRES the woman walk-PRES=PART fast-ADV home-ACC

could be either "the woman walking quickly is going home" or "the
woman walking quickly home is going."  Granted the second
interpretation sounds a bit odd, but it's an example of the
ambiguities I've run into: which verb does 'aldoven' go with when the
meaning doesn't make it entirely clear.

I've not studied any strongly VSO languages enough to really grok how
this sort of situation is disambiguated.  Some sort of word shuffle
seems in order, but I thought I'd check to see if any real linguists
:) had insight into how this sort of thing is usually handled.
--- end of quote ---

Many verb-initial natlangs have flexible word order, allowing subjects and objects
to permute, at least in special cases. The most obvious solution to your
dilemma that I can see is to allow subjects to follow objects if they're
especially 'heavy'. Thus:

  Lero aldoven na tath daipoth fidial
  "The woman walking quickly is going home"

There shouldn't be any problem with this, since I notice you have case marking in your language.

This kind of operation is called 'Heavy-NP Shift', and many languages have it,
including English. In English, for example, direct objects are usually
immediately adjacent to the verb:

  I gave it to Michael.
  * I gave to Michael it.

  I gave a book to Michael.
  ?* I gave to Michael a book.

However, if the direct object is especially 'heavy', it can shift to a sentence-final
position, as shown below. (This shifting is required for some speakers,
optional for others, and marginal for others, hence the question marks. What's
crucial is that the second sentence sounds better than "I gave to Michael a
book".)

  ? I gave an old and dusty leatherbound book about the English Civil War to Michael.
  ? I gave to Michael an old and dusty leatherbound book about the English Civil War.

Matt Pearson
Department of Linguistics
Reed College
3203 SE Woodstock Blvd
Portland, OR 97202 USA
ph:  503-771-1112 (x 7618)

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