Re: Complement clauses
From: | David J. Peterson <thatbluecat@...> |
Date: | Friday, June 20, 2003, 9:47 |
I'm still having fits with this in Zhyler. I created a Turkish style
head-final language, which is so backwards from my L1's (English and Spanish) that I
keep asking myself, "Is it unnatural to think this way? Or is this just my
L1 interference?" Here's an example:
jememben-yf us-lar-al mat-um.
noodle-GEN. eat-PAST-2sg. see-1sg.-PRES.
"I see that you ate some of the noodles."
Well, now this example is so easy that it makes me look silly. It'd just be
like saying in English, "You ate some of the noodles, I see", only sounding
like "Some of the noodles ate you, see I". That's not tough to wrap one's
brain around at all! I think it's when it gets long, I get lost. Something
like, "I hope the man you saw didn't think I was your husband" would have to be
worded like, "I your husband am, he thought it, you saw him, the man didn't
think it, I hope". Yeah. That to me seems *really* strange. Yet, I'm told
it's possible, so I have to take it on faith.
Anyway, the point is, there isn't much to it. In cases where there could be
confusion, a third person suffix is added to the verb (e.g., "Some of the
noodles ate you, see *it* I"), but with Zhyler, there are no true third person
pronouns. The noun class suffixes (the "ben" up there is a class seventeen
suffix added to foods) can be used as pronouns and pronominal suffixes, but,
again, only when necessary. So if you wanted to say, "S/he sees the king", where
the pronominal suffix for "s/he" would be /-ka/, you could only say:
petti-r mat-ø
king-ACC. see-3sg.-PRES.
not
*petti-r mat-ka
king-ACC. see-3sg.-PRES.
So, that's that. I need sleep.
-David
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