PIE syntax and word-order

[Stanley Friesen]

At 10:43 PM 6/4/01 +0200, Xavier Delamarre wrote:

>le 1/06/01 15:05, Stanley Friesen à sarima at friesen.net a écrit :

>> But, even so, I suspect they are only interchangeable in some contexts.  In
>> others, one or the other is probably atypical or improper.  Are there not
>> certain questions for which one or the other is a more appropriate
>> response?

>You suspect wrongly. Here is your sentence :

>1/ Hier j'ai achete une maison tres grande a Vaucresson

>2/ Hier j'ai achete une tres grande maison a Vaucresson

>Absolutely no difference in meaning, style or emphasis. I am sorry.

There are absolutely NO discourse contexts in which these are not
interchangeable??  There is nothing that could go before that would rule
out one of the alternatives? I find that rather surprising.

>But this is not PIE, only a late IE language with a fairly fixed word-order,
>with some pockets of freedom in this matter.

>I am convinced that a more intimate practice of old IE languages like Latin,
>Greek, Sanskrit,or Lithuanian would convince you that word-order is not an
>essential part of their grammar.

That would be practically impossible, since all of the grammar books I
trust on those languages say exactly the opposite.

--------------
May the peace of God be with you.         sarima at friesen.net