postposition on finite verb forms?

[Paul Hopper]

Tom,

I'm puzzled. Wasn't the whole point of Nino's observation about Georgian 
that started this thread precisely that the postposition occurred on a 
completely finite verb form?

Paul


>
> I think in considering all example of use of pre-/post-positions with
> verbs (or verbal constructions, really) we need to assess the degree of
> finiteness of the verbal construction in question. Since we can quantify
> finiteness (or, to use Haj Ross's old term, 'nouniness') on a sliding
> scale, we can perhaps make some general predictions: That
> pre/postpositions (or, to be more general, nominal case marking) on verbs
> or verbal constructions will tend to occur in less finite constructions,
> maybe ones that show other facets of nominality (articles, genitive
> subjects or object, nominalizing morphemes on the verb, adjectives
> modifying the nominalized verb,  subject or object position inside another
> main clause). As a schematic illustration:
>
> To    her             great knowledge  of-math       (she now added...)
> PRE GEN/SUBJ ADJ  V-NOM     GEN-N/OBJ
>
> Best,  TG
>
> ============================
>
> Danielle Cyr wrote:
>
>> In spoken Québécois (i.e. Canadian French) we have one similar
>> construction:
>>
>> Elle            s'                      est             manière
>> d'      excusée She             REFLEXIVE       be-AUX  kind
>> of      excused 'She kind of excused herself'
>>
>> Among the younger generation of Quebecois speakers, we witness the rise
>>  of other forms of the same phenomena:
>>
>> Elle s'est excusée genre                (genre/kind) Elle s'est excusée
>> style                (style) Elle s'est excusée comme        (like) 'She
>> kind of excused herself'
>>
>> Danielle E. Cyr, assoc. prof. Department of French Studies York
>> University/Calumet College 207 4700 Keele Street Toronto, Ontario Canada
>> M3J 1P3 Tel. 1-416-736-2100  ext. 30180 Fax 1-416-736-5734
>
>


-- 

---------------------------
Paul Hopper
Paul Mellon Distinguished Professor of the Humanities
Department of English
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
Telephone (412) 268-7174
Fax (412) 268-7989