[Lexicog] meaning and usage of "on me"

[Marc FRYD]

Don't mention it.
Marc


Kenneth Keyes wrote:
>
> 
>
> Wow, Thank you John, and everyone else, Mike, Benjamin, Scott! I'll 
> search on our language for this, and ask my local colleague how this 
> would be expressed in his language!
>  
> I'm jazzed!
>  
> Ken
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com 
> [mailto:lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com] *On Behalf Of *John Roberts
> *Sent:* Monday, October 20, 2008 1:02 AM
> *To:* lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com
> *Subject:* Re: [Lexicog] meaning and usage of "on me"
>
> Dear Ken,
>
> This form of 'on me' in English can be categorized as the malefactive. 
> In many languages the form that is used to express the benefactive is 
> also used to express the malefactive, a deed done for the disbenefit 
> of someone. English is a language that uses different forms to express 
> benefactive/malefactive. Typically English uses 'for' to express 
> benefactive and 'on' to express malefactive.
>
> In Amele (Papuan) the same form is used to express both notions. 
> Benefactive can be expressed by an applied object, as in (1), or by 
> the postposition 'nu', as in (2). But malefactive can only be 
> expressed by an applied object, as in (3) and (4).
>
> 1) Jo       eu  ceh-i-t-i-a.
>     house that build-APPL-1sg.OO-3sg.SU-TODP
>     'He built that house for me.'
>
> 2) Jo       eu  ija=nu    ceh-ei-a.
>     house that 1sg=for build-3sg.SU-TODP
>     'He built that house for me.'
>
> 3) Uqa ija=na  ho  q-i-t-i-a.
>     3sg  1sg=of pig hit-APPL-1sg.OO-3sg.SU-TODP
>     ‘He killed my pig on me.’
>
> 4) Ene  cain     salal-i-t-ag-aun.
>     here PROH slide-APPL-1sg.OO-2sg.SU-NEGF
>    ‘Don’t slide here and annoy me (coll. don’t slide on me here).’
>
> There appear to be a number of articles posted on the internet 
> describing benefactive/malefactive marking in different languages.
>
> John Roberts
>
>
>
> Kenneth Keyes wrote:
>
>> ?
>> Dear All,
>>  
>> Just a quick query. Have you thought about the phrase "on me" when 
>> preceded by a verb?  Someone recently asked me about the meaning of 
>> "on me". He quoted Harry Truman's statement regarding Gen. Douglas 
>> MacArthur's insubordination: "I don't want him to resign *_on me_*, I 
>> want him fired!" What do you think of the phrase "on me"? Is is a 
>> transitivizer? What does it *_mean_*? This is different than its 
>> usual meaning as preposition as in the famous "lean on me". I think 
>> it must mean "without my permission", or "against my will". 
>>  
>> Here are some examples I thought of:
>>  
>> Don't leave *on me*.
>> Don't quit *on me*.
>> Don't up and marry *on me*.
>> Don't die *on me*!
>>  
>> I hope he doesn't...on me.
>> I'm afraid he might...on me.
>>  
>> Can you think of other examples? (Just a hint, using Google wasn't 
>> very helpful.)
>>  
>> Is there a text corpus where we can specify "any verb [any tense, any 
>> person, any number ]" followed by the phrase "on" followed by an 
>> accusative/dative personal pronoun? How long can a phrasal verb 
>> incorporating "on me" be?
>>  
>> I am fascinated by this question. I hope you are too. Many thanks in 
>> advance,
>>  
>> Ken
>>  
>>  
>
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>  


-- 
Dr. Marc FRYD
Senior Lecturer in English Linguistics

Faculté des Lettres et des Langues
Université de Poitiers
95 avenue du Recteur Pineau
86022, Poitiers, France

Office: 05 49 45 48 11
Cell: 06 76 28 18 50

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