accusative and ergative languages

[Patrick C. Ryan]

Dear Ralf-Stefan and IEists:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Stefan Georg <georg at rullet.leidenuniv.nl>
> Sent: Wednesday, June 23, 1999 2:20 PM

> Try Li/Thompson: Grammar of Mandarin Chinese, and tell us whether you find
> all their observations and grammar points condensed in Chao's primer.
> As for primers, I have here a Russian primer of about 60. pp.
> To share an anecdote: a teacher of a teacher of mine used to confine his
> Sanskrit lectures to one (short summer) semester only "Sanskrit *ist* nicht
> l"anger", he used to say, and if you look at Mayrhofer's masterly condensed
> grammar, one gets the impression that this is true. However, it keeps
> nagging at me what might have ridden Wackernagel to fill his tons and tons
> of paper with nothing but  - Sanskrit grammar  ?????
> Please, Pat, don't tell us that the "complexity" of languages is measured
> by the thickness of volumes devoted to them. there are primers,
> phrase-books, Hippocrene drivel dictionaries, moderate textbooks, reference
> grammars and huge encyclopedic grammars. One can write 50 pages on Chinese
> as well as 600 (meaningful and relevant pages, that is).

Pat responds:

Well, on page 40 of Chao's Mandarin Primer, are listed "Affixes":

11 are listed; of these 6 qualify as related to "inflections" :
modal -m(en), phrase marker -le; completed action -le; progressive
action -j(y/e); possibility or ability -de; subordination -de.

Undoubtedly, a historical grammar might provide a few more but I consider
this a pretty simple system.

Pat

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