accusative and ergative languages

[Patrick C. Ryan]

[ moderator re-formatted ]

Dear Peter and IEists:

 ----- Original Message -----
From: petegray <petegray at btinternet.com>
Sent: Monday, July 19, 1999 2:41 PM

> Pat said:

>> ... the pattern "e-a-o" *...There was never a time during which *any* verb
>> in [e] followed this "pattern", or even *any* verb in /eR/ followed it
>> (weNden, waNdte, gewaNdt).

Peter wrote:

> Perhaps I misunderstand you.   This pattern is one of the standard patterns
> of strong verbs in modern German, most prevalent among verbs in -eR-, but
> not restricted to them, e.g.:

> befehlen, befahl, befohlen             to command
> bergen, barg, geborgen                to salvage
> nehmen, nahm, genommen          to take

Pat responds:
Peter, I majored in German so I am familiar with these "patterns".

Like so much of what we seem to do on this list, it is a question of
definitions: in this case, 'pattern'.

I confess that the definition I was using when I made the statement above is
1) idiosyncratic (Platonic[?]), and 2) possibly unsustainable.

Mixed up in it was the idea of '*general* applicability', and I can see now
that it is a definition of extremely limited usefulness.

I withdraw my statement, and grant your point.

Pat

PATRICK C. RYAN (501) 227-9947; FAX/DATA (501)312-9947 9115 W. 34th St.
Little Rock, AR 72204-4441 USA WEBPAGES:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/2803 and PROTO-RELIGION:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/2803/proto-religion/indexR.html "Veit
ek, at ek hekk, vindga meipi, nftr allar nmu, geiri undapr . . . a ~eim
meipi er mangi veit hvers hann af rstum renn." (Havamal 138)