Query: Possessor Raising

[Koontz John E]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 09:01:58 -0600
From: "R. Rankin" <r.rankin at latrobe.edu.au>
To: john.koontz at colorado.edu
Subject: For Siouan list.

John, this is for the list.  could you post it for me?  thanks.  Bob

A question has arisen here in Australia where I am currently about
"possessor raising" in Siouan.  One of the Quapaws who had not used her
language in a long time gave me a sentence "shoNke aN-t?e" for 'my dog
died' or possibly 'my dog died on me'.  Note that possession is
indicated by the patient pronominal prefix, aN- rather than with the
alienable possessive "witta" 'my'.  The learned typologists here tell me
that they shouldn't be able to get this kind of possessor raising if the
possessed object is animate (like 'dog').  How does this work out in the
languages you know?  Can you get possessor raising with animate objects
or is it confined strictly to inanimates?

Bob