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Re: Complement clauses

From:Peter Bleackley <peter.bleackley@...>
Date:Thursday, June 19, 2003, 10:46
Staving Daniel Andreasson:
>Amanda wrote to me privately and pointed out that this post >might have been filtered out because of the OT in the subject line. (She >might also just have tried to be nice >to me since there were no replies. :D ) > >Anyway, I'm still interested in how y'all form complement >clauses in your conlangs, so I'll repost this question. >All intricacies are more than welcome! > >Here's how it's being done in Piata. > >"Lekituu eiloo luachishi ite." > >le -kitu -u e- ilo -o luachi -shi ite >1>3-think-PAST COMPL-be:dead-PAST thread/yarn-PEJ DEM.SG.INANIM. >'I thought that this darned thread was dead.' > >Word order changes from SVO to VSO in the complement clause. The >{e-} prefix introduces the clause. >
Khangaþyagon uses a topic-comment structure for this type of clause. Here's an example tamiting yi mallsheurroshtkur, wiþingar yir zaldep mœza. Gloss tamit- i- nt yi mall-sheurr- osht-ku- r "believe unfoundedly or insincerely".3p.pt 3p holy.seclude.pp. topic.pl wiþ- i- ng-ar yi-r zaldep mœza have.3p.pt.pl 3p.pl treasure great Translation in native idiom He believed [unfoundedly] about the monks, they had great treasure. Smooth translation He believed [unfoundedly] that the monks had great treasure. Pete

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Roger Mills <romilly@...>