Attian: Difference between revisions

2 bytes removed ,  27 December 2012
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The '''agentative''' ({{sc|agt}}) case is used to mark the subject, or agent, of transitive verbs. However, intertwined with the Attian language's distinction on control and volition, there is a slight intentional distinction on intransitives, marking high control intransitives through the agentative argument. Confer the difference betweem the [[w:English language|English]] intransitives "He tripped" and "He talked". In Attian, the former argument would be marked with the patientative case, since he is undergoing the verb, and the latter would be marked with the agentative, since he is in full control of his actions and the agent of the verb.  
The '''agentative''' ({{sc|agt}}) case is used to mark the subject, or agent, of transitive verbs. However, intertwined with the Attian language's distinction on control and volition, there is a slight intentional distinction on intransitives, marking high control intransitives through the agentative argument. Confer the difference betweem the [[w:English language|English]] intransitives "He tripped" and "He talked". In Attian, the former argument would be marked with the patientative case, since he is undergoing the verb, and the latter would be marked with the agentative, since he is in full control of his actions and the agent of the verb.  


Being a fluid-S language, however, the simple "He tripped", might be marked with the agentative, should he intentionally have done so. Most often, this conveys a slight semantic shift, and "He tripped" might be interpreted as "He's faking a fall". Some verbs are are inherently high control, for example, the dynamic action "to cook", '''zama'', can hardly be performed unintentionally, likewise is the word for "to talk", ''thana'', somewhat difficult to perform involuntarily, except for sleep-talking.
Being a fluid-S language, however, the simple "He tripped", might be marked with the agentative, should he intentionally have done so. Most often, this conveys a slight semantic shift, and "He tripped" might be interpreted as "He's faking a fall". Some verbs are are inherently high control, for example, the dynamic action "to cook", ''zama'', can hardly be performed unintentionally, likewise is the word for "to talk", ''thana'', somewhat difficult to perform involuntarily, except for sleep-talking.


The semantic shift is illustrated below with the word "''to breathe''", which may be interpreted differently, depending on whether marked with the patientive enclitic pronoun, or the agentive personal.
The semantic shift is illustrated below with the word "''to breathe''", which may be interpreted differently, depending on whether marked with the patientive enclitic pronoun, or the agentive personal.
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| colspan="4"|/ta ˈɹaŋ͡ma arˈaŋi̩a/
| colspan="4"|/ta ˈraŋ͡ma arˈaŋi̩a/
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