Re: A sample of Tiki vocabulary

Paul Roser wrote:
> On Fri, 28 Apr 2006 20:07:41 -0500, Herman Miller <hmiller@...> wrote:
>
>
>>I'm not clear on the difference between fluid-S and split-S.
>
>
> My understanding is that a split-S language has two sets of intransitive
> verbs, some of which obligatorily take an Agent subject, and some taking a
> Patient subject.
>
> In a fluid-S language, (at least some) intransitive verbs may take either
> Agent or Patient subjects, with corresponding semantic differences in the
> result. For instance, a verb like 'slide' with an Agent subject could
> indicate volitional sliding (as children playing on ice), while Patient
> subject might indicate non-volitional or accidental sliding.
In a case like "slide", Tiki would use a reflexive pronoun.

E mi se ha lipe ove ta koli.
AGENT I REFL. PERF. slide over the ice
I slid on the ice (intentionally)

O mi ha lipe a ta koli va ha vale nele.
PAT. I PERF. slide at the ice and PERF. fall down
I slid on the ice (unintentionally) and fell down

("O mi" can be omitted in the second clause since it's considered as the
subject of both verbs. Tiki is SVO, but the "S" can be any case.)

As for intransitive verbs that take an Agent subject, I can't think of
many ... but "think" is one, I think. :-) Probably also verbs of motion
like "come" and "go". So I guess that'd make Tiki a split-S language.

(For those keeping track, "va" for "and" is another one of those
"exotic" borrowings, which could be from Farsi or Uzbek, or Arabic "wa".
I might change it to "e" or "i", but either of those would require other
changes...)