[Lingtyp] Verbs of success with dative subject

[Hannu Tommola]

  Hi,

Hasn't anybody mentioned Finnish?

There are the alternatives with a canonical (a) and a non-canonical
(b) subject:

'we/Jussi succeeded in everything'

(a) me/Jussi     onnistuimme/onnistui        kaike-ssa
     1PL/Jussi    succeed.PST.1PL/3SG     all-INES

(b) mei-lle/Jussi-lle   onnistui                      kaikki
     1PL/Jussi-ALL    succeed.PST.3SG     all

In the corresponding construction with a verbal complement the
non-canonicial subject is in the genitive:

'we succeeded in doing it'

(a) me onnistu-i-mme         teke-mä-än se-n
     1PL succeed-PST-1PL  do-3INF-ILL it-GEN(ACC)

(b) meidä-n  onnistu-i         teh-dä    se
     we-GEN succeed-PST  do-INF   it

Happy new year and success to all,

Hannu

Quoting Jussi Ylikoski <jussi.ylikoski at oulu.fi>:

>  
>
>     Dear all,
>
>      
>
>     Here is a non-IE example from North Saami (Uralic), disregarding
> the probable influence from its Scandinavian neighbors. ILL stands
> for the illative, the case for Direction and Recipient, which could
> be (and earlier has been) labeled "dative" as well:
>
>      
>
>     Midjiide/Johanii   lihkostuvai     buot.
>
>     1PL.ILL/Johan.ILL  succeed.PST.3SG all
>
>     'We/Johan succeeded in everything.'
>
>     (cf. Norwegian /Alt lykkes for oss/Johan/.)
>
>      
>
>     Unlike in Scandinavian, a dummy subject usually does not occur:
>
>      
>
>     Midjiide/Johanii   ii      lihkostuvvan     oažžut  oktavuođa   duinna.
>
>     1PL.ILL/Johan.ILL  NEG.3SG succeed.PST.PTCP get.INF contact.ACC 2SG.ACC
>
>     'We/Johan didn't succeed in contacting you.'
>
>     (cf. Norwegian /Det lyktes ikke for oss/Johan å ta kontakt med deg/.)
>
>      
>
>     Best regards,
>
>      
>
>     Jussi
  Hannu Tommola
Professor emer. of Russian Language (Translation Theory and Practice)
School of Language, Translation and Literary Studies
FIN-33014 University of Tampere, Finland
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