[YG Conlang Archives] > [saweli group] > messages [Date Index] [Thread Index] >

[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next]

Re: [saweli] Welcome!

In a message dated 5/13/2007 1:29:04 PM Central Daylight Time, sts@hidden.email writes:


another application of this construction would be "topicalization".
let's topicalize "donald" in the sentence "donald is watching tv". this
would be something like "speaking of donald, he's watching tv".

There is already a means for doing precisely this, I believe.  

The Saweli word is "zuxlip" (the heavy topicalization particle).

ram talks about topicalization, including heavy topicalization, in section 23.0 of Lexical Semantics:

   3. Heavy topicalization.  An argument of the verb is made more
   topical than the subject.  Here are some English examples:

       Bill, I saw him yesterday.
       The new amusement park, it opens for business today.
       On Sunday, I plan to relax all day.
       With his new suit, he can attend the conference without
           embarrassment.

expanding the concept and aplicibility of prepositions, i think that
"donald" turns into a preposition: "donald: (he') is watching tv". i
think this is how english "till you came" works. "till" originally means
"target", "goal", "destiny", "final state" (german "Ziel"). so "till you
came" (or "until your arrival") could be read like this: "with the final
state: your arrival". note that this prepositionalized phrase is not a
sentence but a mere prepositional phrase.

So I don't think it is acting like a preposition; in fact, the Saweli word is a verb.

the same thing is happening in noun-noun phrases like "my friend john".
"friend" is some sort of preposition of "john".

This is apposition, and it's one of the uses of the Lojban word "po'u", indicating restrictive identification.  One example (3.12) in "The Complete Lojban Language" is "le tcadu po'u la nu,iork" = 'The city of New York [not another city].'  
So rather than turn "my friend" into a preposition, a different solution is to insert a preposition between the two, in this case, something like "wugid" ("being", "who is").

stevo