examples of Wari'

[Dan Everett]

Folks,

I should have included these before, since it seems to make it harder
to follow without actually including some examples ('duh')

(1)     *Mi     nam             con             hwam    cam     cwa'    tarama'.
                na-m
give    3srp/p-3sf      prep:3sm        fish    f       this:m/f        man

'The man gave her the fish.'

(2)     Mi      nam             con             hwam    Hatem   tarama'.
                na-m
give    3srp/p-3sf      prep:3sm        fish    f:name  man

'The man gave Hatem the fish.'

(3)     Maqui'  na      co      ma'.
        come    3s:rp/p m       that:prox:hearer

        'He came.' (lit: 'That masculine being/thing near you came.')

(4)     Querec  nam             cam ma'         Xijam.
                na-m
        see     3sr:p/p-3sf     f that:prox:hearer      m:name.

        'Xijam saw her.' (lit: 'Xijam saw that woman/girl.')


Ex. (1) is ungrammatical. The pronoun cannot reference RECIPIENT/GOAL
(the pronominal paradigm is 100% periphrastic, see Everett in progress
for more details). Example (2) is fine, with a proper name instead of a
pronoun. Example (3) is fine, with pronoun as subject, as is (4) with
pronoun as object. No other word orders are possible.

Again, I am not asking for analysis, but whether this pattern rings any
bells as it were - does anyone know of a similar case? No doubt it will
be obvious and reveal my astounding ignorance, but I am willing to
tolerate the humiliation if I get a good answer.

Dan



********************
Daniel L. Everett
Professor of Phonetics and Phonology
Department of Linguistics
University of Manchester
Manchester, UK
M13 9PL
Phone: 44-161-275-3158
Department Fax: 44-161-275-3187
http://ling.man.ac.uk/info/staff/de/
'Speech is the best show man puts on' - Whorf