On Sep 14, 2005, at 11:52 AM, Jörg Rhiemeier wrote:
> Hallo!
> The conlangy motivation for my question is that I consider making
> the language family of the "British Dwarves" an Afro-Asiatic one.
Sounds cool!
Especially since Tolkien's Dwarves spoke a Semitic-like language :-) .
> Six years ago (March 7, 1999), Sally Caves posted the following list
> of common features of Celtic and Semitic to this list:
>> 1) Conjugated prepositions (prep. + pronominal object in a single
>> word.
>> 2) Word order: VSO, N-Modifier, Prepositions
>> 3) Relative clause linker: invariant particle, not relative pronoun.
>> 4) Relative clause technique (oblique): copying, not gapping,
>> i.e., "the bed, I slept in it," meaning "the bed that I slept in."
Also in Hebrew 'the bed that i slept in-it', using the invariant
particle of #3
>> 5) Special form of the verb peculiar to relative clauses.
Not sure
>> 6) Polypersonal verb (subject and object both marked).
>> 7) Infixing/suffixing alternation: Object marker is infixed to
>> the verb if there is a preverb, suffixed otherwise.
Doesn't sound like anything i know of in the Semitic languages.
>> 8) Definite article in genitive embeddings may occur
>> only on on the embedded noun: "house the-man" ="the man's
>> house."
>> 9) Nonconcord of verb with full-NP subject: verb can fail
>> to agree with the subject, depending on word order.
Known from Biblical Hebrew, and Arabic, usually singular for plural.
Also, in Arabic plural inanimates take singular feminine agreement.
>> 10) Verbal Noun (Vn: object in genitive), not Infinitive
>> (object in same case as with finite verb).
Hebrew developed infinitives.
>> 11) Predicative particle: in copular or nominal sentences,
>> the predicate is marked with a particle homophonous
>> to a "local" preposition: "He (is) in a farmer"="he is a
>> farmer."
Never heard of this.
>> 12) Prepositional periphrastic: BE + Prep + VN, e.g.,
>> "He is at singing" [TEONAHT'S "she is with singing"]
Not as common in Semitic.
>> 13) DO periphrastic: DO + VN, e.g. "He does singing."
Doesn't fit my knowledge of Semitic languages.
>> 14) Notional adverbial clause expressed as "and" + finite
>> clause
?
>> 15) Nonfinite forms usable instead of finite main-clause verb
?
>> 16) Word-initial change, expressing a variety of syntactic
>> functions
>> 17) Idiomatic use of kin terms in genitive constructions, e.g.
>> "son of sending" = messenger; "son of land" = "wolf"
Very popular in Hebrew and Aramaic, don't know about Arabic.
> This looks quite interesting. But how common are these features
> among the languages of the world? How many of them are typological
> implications of others in the list (e. g., VSO order)?
> Thanks in advance for the discussion.
> Greetings,
> Jörg.
-Stephen (Steg)
"ezekiel... he has like the crazy thing!"
~ brilliant biblical commentary by n