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Re: semantic roles

From:Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...>
Date:Sunday, June 20, 1999, 8:36
Nik Taylor wrote:
> Also, those aren't the only case-roles in existence, a number of verbs > have idiomatic assignments. For instance, lasta' (to prophecy) uses > circumlocative for what is being prophesied
Oops! I knew I should've checked my dictionary. That *is* a unique verb, BUT the cases aren't as I put them, they are: prophet is in instrumental, and the prophecy is absolutive. The idea behind it is that the deity is the agent (unstated ergative), giving a prophecy (absolutive) to the people (dative) thru the prophet (instrumental), thus: He prophesied the destruction of the city Flast=E1l n=EDsfunali pinyazl=E1 wakinakat=E1f F-last=E1-l n-=EDsfuna-li pi-nyazl=E1 wa-kinakat=E1-f Past-prophesy-3IS G2-pron-INST G7-destruction-abs G6-city-gen Stating the deity Flast=E1l tidik=E1ul n=EDsfunali pinyazl=E1 wakinakat=E1f F-last=E1-l ti-dik=E1u-l n-=EDsfuna-li pi-nyazl=E1 Past-prophesy-3IS G1-deity-ERG G2-3pron-INST G7-destruction-abs wa-kinakat=E1-f G6-city-gen Which is fairly difficult to translate into English, something like "He prophesied for the goddess the destruction of the city", or "The goddess spoke thru the prophet about the destruction of the city" Incidentally, because the prophet is placed in instrumental, (s)he can be incorporated in the verb, with the gender lost, thus: Fisfunalast=E1l tidik=E1ul pinyazl=E1 wakinakat=E1f F-isfuna-last=E1-l ti-dik=E1u-l pi-nyazl=E1 wa-kinakat=E1-f Past-3pron-prophesy-3IS G1-deity-ERG G7-destruction G6-city-gen This is actually the more common way to say it, simple instrumentals are usually incorporated. --=20 Yaw=EDntasva natab=ED, plan saf=ED nlak=FAsi http://members.tripod.com/~Nik_Taylor/Conlang/W.html http://members.tripod.com/~Nik_Taylor/Books.html ICQ #: 18656696 AIM screen-name: NikTailor