> > So how would a small clause be defined for languages which don't
mark
> > case?
>
> In order to explain various unusual properties about noun phrases and
their
> distribution, generative grammar posits something called "Abstract
Case",
> which gets assigned to noun phrases even in languages which don't
> distinguish cases morphologically. It's all too complicated to go
into, and
> anyway I don't know if I even believe in Abstract Case, so I'm not
prepared
> to defend it. Anyhow, the definition of small clause is entirely
> independent of whether a language has morphological case or not.
More or less what I expected. I'd be interested in seeing evidence for
this from a language w/o case, just to analyze the syntax.
> (snip)
> > The next one, however, does not happen in Yivríndil:
> >
> > > N'afa, ia Bob?
> > > Qu-accompany Quot Bob
> > > "Are you coming along, Bob?"
> >
> > Nope, can't use 'ef' for vocatives. Yiv doesn't mark vocatives
except
> > with the optional use of the 1sg possesive affix, literally "my
Bob."
> > Applied to 'Bob,' the vocative would be 'Boibeva', which sounds
quite
> > silly!
>
> Another, perhaps commoner way to form vocatives in Tokana is by
juxtaposing
> the second person pronoun with a name/title. So another way to
express the
> above sentence would be:
>
> Ku Bob n'afa?
> You Bob Qu-accompany
> "Are you coming, Bob?"
>
> The "ia" construction is necessary only if the person you're
addressing does
> not him/herself play a role in the sentence:
>
> N'afan Sakial, ia Bob?
> Qu-accompany-the Sakial Quot Bob
> "Is Sakial coming along, Bob?"
Is some sort of vocative marking mandatory? In my experience, languages
that do not have morphologically marked vocatives do not make vocative
marking mandatory, but I am not a linguistic typologist and am not
claiming a linguistic universal. Does anyone know of a natlang that has
mandatory vocative marking that isn't morphological?
> > BTW, I really appreciate the aesthetic flavor of Tokana, Matt. It's
one
> > of the prettier conlangs around, IMHO.
>
> Thank you again! I'm flattered--especially since Tokana is not
designed to
> be pretty (although it is designed to be aesthetically appealing to
me).
Well, then, we must have similar tastes.
>
> Matt.
>
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Jesse Bangs