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<font face="Arial, Helvetica">Dear typologists, <br>
<br>
I am working on a study of the crosslinguistic argument-encoding
possibilities for various semantic classes of verbs. I am trying to look
at which types of verbs and arguments occur in canonical transitive
constructions and which types take other kinds of constructions.<br>
<br>
In order to get the necessary data for this project I have compiled a
questionnaire consisting of 14 sentences which I am hoping to get
translated into as many languages as possible. This, then, is a cry for
help: I would very much appreciate it if as many people as possible would
take the time to translate these sentences for me, into any language for
which you feel competent to do so. I realise that most people are busy
enough as it is, but this should not take too long and would be a great
help. Please do not refrain from replying if you feel that your language
doesn’t do anything particularly interesting in this area; I want to get
as broad a picture as possible of how these things are done in languages
in general, so *all* data are useful. <br>
<br>
The sentences are listed below. Please include glosses with your
translations. If you don’t know a particular word (say, if speakers of
the language have never heard of apples, or you don’t know the exact
translation equivalent of “destroy”), feel free to substitute a more or
less corresponding one that you do know. <br>
<br>
In addition, I have one other question: Does the argument encoding of any
of these sentences change under negation? For instance, does “He didn’t
break the glass” (either “didn’t manage to” or “luckily enough didn’t
break it when he knocked it over”) take the same argument structure/case
frame as “He broke the glass”? If there are differences, please include
the negated sentence as well. <br>
<br>
Send your reply to
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" color="#0000FF"><u>A.Naess@let.kun.nl</u></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica">.
Contributors will of course be duly credited in my thesis as well as
receiving my heartfelt gratitude.<br>
<br>
1. a He broke the glass (on purpose)<br>
b He broke the glass (accidentally)<br>
<br>
2. He ate the apple<br>
<br>
3. The storm destroyed the village<br>
<br>
4. The ball broke the window<br>
<br>
5. He entered the room<br>
<br>
6. He saw the girl<br>
<br>
7. He looked at the girl<br>
<br>
8. He liked the girl<br>
<br>
9. He frightened the girl<br>
<br>
10. He was thirsty<br>
<br>
11. He got angry (with her)<br>
<br>
12. He forgot her name<br>
<br>
13. He remembered her name<br>
<br>
---<br>
<br>
<br>
</font><br>
<br>
<div>Åshild Næss</div>
<br>
<br>
<div>University of Nijmegen</div>
<div>Erasmusplein 1</div>
<div>6525 GG Nijmegen</div>
<div>THE NETHERLANDS</div>
<br>
<div>+31 24 3616028</div>
<br>
a.naess@let.kun.nl
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