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<div>Wayne,</div>
<div><x-tab> </x-tab>You've
gotten a lot of good suggestions, but ...</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>English<i> sit</i> is part of a three-way system of verbs of
location that are distinguished by the shape and orientation of the
object in question, regardless of its animacy. (This sounds rather
Athabaskan.) Various versions of this are found in all Germanic
languages. It works like this:</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><i>stand</i><x-tab> </x-tab>object with a single
predominant dimension is located in a place</div>
<div><x-tab>
</x-tab>oriented vertically, supported from the bottom.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><i><x-tab> </x-tab>He
was standing outside the door.</i></div>
<div><i><x-tab> </x-tab>The
vase was standing on the desk.</i></div>
<div><i><br></i></div>
<div><i>stand</i><x-tab> </x-tab>object without a third
predominant dimension is located in a place</div>
<div><x-tab>
</x-tab>oriented horizontally, supported from the bottom.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><i><x-tab> </x-tab>He
was lying outside the door.</i></div>
<div><i><x-tab> </x-tab>The
book was lying on the desk.</i></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><i>sit</i><x-tab> </x-tab>object with
three predominant dimensions is located in a place,</div>
<div><x-tab>
</x-tab>supported from the bottom.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><i><x-tab> </x-tab>He
was sitting outside the door.</i></div>
<div><i><x-tab> </x-tab>The
cup was sitting on the desk.</i></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>(You have to say something about the support because if the
object is on a vertical surface or the bottom of a horizontal surface,
you are required to use a verb that references how the object remains
in place, e.g.<i> The paper is *lying on/stuck on the wall.</i> If you
say<i> The paper is lying on the wall.</i> It can only mean that the
wall has no ceiling or roof attached and the paper is lying on the top
of it. You can work out ceilings for yourself.)</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Notice that people can change shape. The various Germanic
languages differ in how the extensions of these prototypes work.
English, extends<i> stand</i> to what animals do when all their legs
are extended supporting them. German often uses<i> setzen</i> 'sit' in
metaphorical contexts, where English would use<i> lie</i> (or<i>
be</i> or something else).</div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote>
<blockquote><i>In meiner Brust da sitzt ein Weh.</i> 'Within my breast
there lies an ache' (Heine poem, trans. by Emily Ezust)</blockquote>
<blockquote><i>Das Glück sitzt im Gehirn</i>. 'Happiness resides in
the brain.' (Title of a recent research article, my
translation)</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div>It's also worth noting that some locative is almost obligatory,
esp. when the subject is inanimate.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><x-tab> </x-tab>The
ladder is standing *(next to the shed).</div>
<div><x-tab> </x-tab>The boy
is standing (next to the shed).</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><x-tab> </x-tab>The cup
is sitting *(on the table).</div>
<div><x-tab> </x-tab>The man
is sitting (on the table).</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><x-tab> </x-tab>The log
is lying *(across the driveway).</div>
<div><x-tab> </x-tab>The
girl is lying (across the driveway).</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><x-tab> </x-tab>*The
ladder is standing up.</div>
<div><x-tab> </x-tab>The boy
is standing up.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><x-tab> </x-tab>*The
cup is sitting down.</div>
<div><x-tab> </x-tab>The man
is sitting down.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><x-tab> </x-tab>*The
log is lying down.</div>
<div><x-tab> </x-tab>The
girl is lying down.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>What does this all mean for Cheyenne lexicography? Probably that
there should be a BE_IN_A_PLACE category as Ron suggests, or better,
BE_AT, since the relevant verbs are all relative roots and the
complement isn't included in the verb form. It just appears that it is
sometimes because null complements are possible.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>This question brings up a good theoretical point. We have to be
every bit as sophisticated about the semantics of the glossing
language as we are about the semantics of the target language. English
(or French or Spanish) aren't truly metalanguages. We just tend to use
them that way. A point frequently missed.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Rich</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Longman's Language Activator puts this
meaning of 'sit' under their domain<br>
'Place', although interestingly they don't list 'sit' as one of the
words.<br>
However I set up a separate subdomain for 'Be in a place', since PLACE
is a<br>
primitive in NSM and a major section heading in my system. LLA
separates the<br>
notion 'be in a place' into two lexical sets, (1) ways of saying that
an<br>
object is in a particular place, (be, stand, lie) (2) ways of saying
that<br>
something, such as a country, town, building, or organization is in
a<br>
particular place (be, lie, be situated, be located, be sited, stand,
be<br>
based). If you want a single English word to capture this idea, I
think a<br>
good option would be 'located' (as in 'be located', not 'has been
located',<br>
which means 'discovery the location of').<br>
<br>
Ron<br>
<br>
-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Wayne Leman [mailto:wayne_leman@sil.org]<br>
Sent: Sunday, March 21, 2004 7:20 AM<br>
To: lexicographylist@yahoogroups.com</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Subject: [Lexicog] sit vs. sit<br>
<br>
<br>
John Koontz asked:<br>
<br>
> In the Siouan languages the analogs of the 'sit/set, 'lie/lay',
'stand'<br>
> verbs are termed positionals. Is that the term you're
looking for, Wayne?<br>
<br>
Not really, John. I just needed some English word to act as a keyword
by<br>
which I could extract from my lexical database the intransitive
verbs<br>
which have inanimate subjects and an ending (the Algonquian
language<br>
label is "final", from<br>
Bloomfield). I was hoping for some simple synonym of 'sit' which I
already<br>
have in use for the morphologically corresponding intransitive verbs
with<br>
animate subjects and 'sit' finals. I suspect that the Sioun
positionals may<br>
not be as morphologically transparent as are the Algonquian finals for
'sit'<br>
(or 'be at'), but, of course, there would be some functional
similarities.<br>
<br>
Thanks,<br>
Wayne<br>
-----<br>
Wayne Leman<br>
Cheyenne website: http://www.geocities.com/cheyenne_language<br>
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