Dative Pronouns

[Steven Schaufele]

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Roger Wright wrote:
>
> --------------------------Original message--------------------------
>
> Yes. French (lui < ILLUI)
>                         RW
>
 
But this isn't what Ms. Bowern was asking for, is it?  As far as i know,
Modern French `lui' is still technically a dative form, isn't it (`Ce
livre, je le *lui* ai donn'e' = `This book, i gave it *to him*')?  Or is
there some colloquial usage of it as a possible subject that i'm not
familiar with?
 
Ms. Bowern also clearly said, `I'm not really interested in languages
where the dative and accusative fall together, and then that case
becomes "nominative".'  Now, it's common knowledge that this is what
happened in the case of the English `you', to which Richard Hogg refers;
i presume that Ms. Bowern is aware of this and other cases like it,
which is why she explicitly mentioned that she was *not* particularly
interested in hearing about them.  The `pronoun exchange' phenomenon
that Mr. Hogg also mentions is rather more interesting in this respect.
 
Best,
Steven
--
Steven Schaufele, Ph.D., Asst. Prof. of Linguistics, English Department
 
Soochow University, Waishuanghsi Campus, Taipei 11102, Taiwan, ROC
 
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