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Antarctican: Difference between revisions
Topicalisation and Possession
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==Syntax== | ==Syntax== | ||
===Basic Word Order=== | |||
Antarctican is a syntactically ergative (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergative%E2%80%93absolutive_language#Syntactic_ergativity), topic-prominent language (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topic-prominent_language). The basic word order is (Topic) (Ergative Noun) Verb (Absolutive Noun). So in intransitive sentences the word order is either V-S or S-V (if the subject is topicalised) e.g. | Antarctican is a syntactically ergative (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergative%E2%80%93absolutive_language#Syntactic_ergativity), topic-prominent language (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topic-prominent_language). The basic word order is (Topic) (Ergative Noun) Verb (Absolutive Noun). So in intransitive sentences the word order is either V-S or S-V (if the subject is topicalised) e.g. | ||
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The soldier is hunting frogs. | The soldier is hunting frogs. | ||
===Topicalisation and Possession=== | |||
Antarctican has two 3rd person possessive prefixes that nouns can take, wa- and si-. They are not interchangable. When the possessor is the noun that has been taken up as the topic, wa- is used. If not, si- is used instead. Compare the following two sentences: | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|- | |||
| sowdla || amielaeychu || wawùerù | |||
|- | |||
| sɔudɮaɴ || ʔamelɛicu || wawɨɦʁuɦ | |||
|- | |||
| soldier.ABS || hunt.NFCS || TPCPOSS-frog.ABS | |||
|} | |||
The soldier is hunting his frogs (i.e. the ones that the soldier owns). | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|- | |||
| sowdla || amielaeychu || siwùerù | |||
|- | |||
| sɔudɮaɴ || ʔamelɛicu || siwɨɦʁuɦ | |||
|- | |||
| soldier.ABS || hunt.NFCS || 3POSS-frog.ABS | |||
|} | |||
The soldier is hunting his / her frogs (that someone else other than the soldier owns). | |||
In both cases above, the soldier has been taken up as the topic, indicated by putting it immediately before a transitive verb (indicating that it is the subject of that verb), while keeping it in the absolutive case. Hence, whenever wa- is used, it indicates something belonging to the topic (i.e. the soldier). However, when si- is used, it indicates something belonging to someone or something other than the topic. | |||
Now look at sentences where the soldier has not been topicalised (indicated by keeping it in the ergative case): | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|- | |||
| sowdlan || amielaykùe || wawùerù | |||
|- | |||
| sɔudɮaɴ || ʔamelaikɨɦ || wawɨɦʁuɦ | |||
|- | |||
| soldier-ERG || hunt.NFCS || TPCPOSS-frog.ABS | |||
|} | |||
A soldier is hunting his / her frogs (not belonging to the soldier, but to whoever / whatever has been taken up as a topic previously). | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|- | |||
| sowdlan || amielaykùe || siwùerù | |||
|- | |||
| sɔudɮaɴ || ʔamelaikɨɦ || siwɨɦʁuɦ | |||
|- | |||
| soldier-ERG || hunt.NFCS || 3POSS-frog.ABS | |||
|} | |||
A soldier is hunting his / her frogs (This sentence is ambiguous, but most likely the frogs belong to the soldier, and definitely not to whoever / whatever has been taken up as a topic previously). | |||
Similar differences in meaning apply in OVS sentences (i.e. where the object of a transitive verb has been topicalised) e.g. | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|- | |||
| sáaeynátqéy || waesowdlan || amielaeychu | |||
|- | |||
| sɛːiʔnaʔtʼɘiʔ || wɛsɔudɮaɴ || ʔamelɛicu | |||
|- | |||
| general.ABS || TPCPOSS-soldier-ERG || hunt.VFCS | |||
|} | |||
The general is being hunted by his (own) soldiers. | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|- | |||
| sáaeynátqéy || suesowdlan || amielaeychu | |||
|- | |||
| sɛːiʔnaʔtʼɘiʔ || sɨsɔudɮaɴ || ʔamelɛicu | |||
|- | |||
| general.ABS || 3POSS-soldier-ERG || hunt.VFCS | |||
|} | |||
The general is being hunted by his / her soldiers (not his own). | |||
[[Category:Languages]][[Category:Conlangs]] | [[Category:Languages]][[Category:Conlangs]] | ||