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Re: Mandarin



--- In txeqli@y..., Rex May - Baloo <rmay@m...> wrote:
> A quick question for the group.  Should Txeqli mimic Mandarin thus:
> 
> Go dorm.  I sleep.
> Go dorm zi.  I put you to sleep.
> 
> Go djoy.  I'm happy.
> Go djoy zi.  I make you happy.
> 
> That is, convert an intransitive to a transitive simply by 
> adding an object?

One concern I have is sentences like this:

Kven djoy felin...

At this point, we don't know if it is "Kevin [make] happy [the] cat..." or "Kven [who is] a happy cat...". Quite different meanings. Glosa, which has a similar structure, has similar problems. It has optional markers to start the verb phrase, but some people don't like to use them. 

Generally, you *can* figure out, by context, where the verb starts, but only after you've looked ahead in the sentence. I find that frustrating, and would like to be able to figure out the meaning by reading the sentence once, in order.

So, to make a short story long, I do like the idea of verbing adjectives like this, but also fear a lack of markers that indicate breaks between S, V, and O parts of a sentence.

Kven