Re: UNIQUE ROMANCE FEATURES

[Padraic Brown <pbrown@POLARIS.UMUC.EDU>]

On Mon, 29 Jun 1998, Nik Taylor wrote:

> Jim Grossmann wrote:
> >
> > OK, so Portuguese has personal infinitives, and Romanian has some cases.
> >
> > Can anyone name and/or describe some unique grammatical quirks of other
> > Romance languages?
>
[snipacion de cosas espanyolas]
>
> I've read that French uses redundant subject and object pronouns
> frequently, to the point where it's thought that it may be evolving a
> new system of subject and object agreement.  I don't know that much
> about French, tho.

Kernu uses redundant pronouns as well.  I don't think it's to "remind" us
who the subject of the verb is, because the verb inflects for person.  It
may have somewhat to do with sentence rhythm, as the imposition of the
pronoun 'separates' the verb from the rest of the sentence in space.  (Of
course, for those of us for whom the mother language doesn't inflect for
person and which places the subject and verb in close proximity (e.g.,
English), the restatement of the subject as a pronoun helps!)

la xefa peryn nzegretar do ke ay le ncant Nipunguo sa apeth.
The boss for-a secretary at whom there-is the tongue Japanese she searches

[la xefa was borrowed from Spanish (a long time ago), means "boss", and is
used only in the seaports and on ships (with various usages as
dockmaster, boss of a docking firm, ship captain, etc.).  In this case,
it probably signifies some sort of boss within a docking or shipping
firm.]

eo yn livre a la meva soeri eo li dedai-la.
I a book to the my sister I her gave-her.

[That's three references to the sister and three to the subject (counting
the verbal inflexion).  That's not bad for a sentence 10 words long.  The
"li"  is optional, however.  "livre" can be the oblique of either
"livoer", book or "livra", pound (money).]

Padraic.

>
> --
> The early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
> http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Rampart/9785/
>