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Dear Ken,<br>
<br>
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.<br>
<br>
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). <br>
<br>
1) Jo eu ceh-i-t-i-a.<br>
house that build-APPL-1sg.OO-3sg.SU-TODP<br>
'He built that house for me.'<br>
<br>
2) Jo eu ija=nu ceh-ei-a.<br>
house that 1sg=for build-3sg.SU-TODP<br>
'He built that house for me.'<br>
<br>
3) Uqa ija=na ho q-i-t-i-a.<br>
3sg<span style=""> </span>1sg=of pig
hit-APPL-1sg.OO-3sg.SU-TODP
<br>
‘He killed my pig on me.’
<br>
<br>
4) Ene<span style=""> </span>cain<span style=""> </span>salal-i-t-ag-aun.<br>
here<span style=""> </span>PROH<span style=""> </span>slide-APPL-1sg.OO-2sg.SU-NEGF
<br>
‘Don’t slide here and annoy me (coll. don’t slide on me
here).’<br>
<br>
There appear to be a number of articles posted on the internet
describing benefactive/malefactive marking in different languages.<br>
<br>
John Roberts<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Kenneth Keyes wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid:001101c931ec$d10b2060$6401a8c0@lifebook"
type="cite">
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<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008">Dear All, </span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008"></span></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008">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 <strong><u>on me</u></strong>, I want him fired!" What do
you think of the phrase "on me"? Is is a transitivizer? What does it <strong><u>mean</u></strong>?
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". </span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008"></span></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008">Here are some examples I thought of: </span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008"></span></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008">Don't leave <strong>on me</strong>.</span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008">Don't quit <strong>on me</strong>. </span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008">Don't up and marry <strong>on me</strong>.
</span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008">Don't die <strong>on me</strong>!</span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008"></span></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008">I hope he doesn't...on me. </span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008">I'm afraid he might...on me. </span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008"></span></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008">Can you think of other examples? (Just a
hint, using Google wasn't very helpful.)</span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008"></span></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008">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?</span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008"></span></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008">I am fascinated by this question. I hope
you are too. Many thanks in advance, </span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008"></span></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008">Ken</span></font></div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008"></span></font> </div>
<div dir="ltr" align="left"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
class="938365212-19102008"></span></font> </div>
<span width="1" style="color: white;"></span>
</blockquote>
<br>
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