Chuma wrote:
Miekko wrote:an optional secondary case
Interesting. I'm not sure I understand all your forms. Maybe you could give some more examples?
It doesn't seem to be very similar to what I've done.
It doesn't, no.
Ok, I'll provide some kind of explanations of these secondary cases then:
1) possessed
my dog -> me.dat dog.(whatevercase).poss
Some nouns may prefer ablative possessors.
Possession is also marked in a number of other ways, and at times a possessed noun may stand without a dative/ablative possessor - in that case, it may well be the subject of the sentence (in which case reflexive possession is assumed:
I like my life -> I.nom life.acc.poss like
2) secondary subject
subject of embedded verb:
I see her running -> I see.imperf her.acc.secsubjc run.imperf
I hope they arrive soon -> I.nom hope.imperf them.abl.secsubj arrive.perf soon
non-subject agent for instruments or possessed nouns that have been promoted to subject status:
I.nom.secsubjc computer.nom.def types -> I type with the computer
I.nom.secsubjc house.nom big stands -> my house is big
(but also the opposite occurs -
my clan supports this -> clan.abl.secsubj I.nom this.acc support.imperfect
What case goes between the noun and the secondary subject case depends on a few factors - the "clan" example above is probably the least obvious one. Nouns that don't fill an obvious role in the sentence may be assigned case rather freely, but the case one picks may imply things about the relationship of the proper subject and the secondary subject in that case.
For embedded verbs, the case is more obvious.
3) reciprocal object
A bit like a reciprocal pronoun (each other) - and related, historically to the reciprocal pronoun as well.
However, this is also used to mark objects that are made to affect each other:
I merged the packages -> I packages-acc-rcpobj merge-perfect
I told them to help each other -> I them.dat.rcpobj help.perf order.perf
we disrespect each other -> we.nom.rcpobj disrespect.imperf
4) definite
a lot like definite articles in most languages, it's just the complementary distribution compared to the other cases that makes it a bit unusual
5) partitive
a lot like partitive in Finnish, but not entirely.
6) negativity congruence
Whenever there's a negation in the sentence, this is optional (but very often used if no other secondary case fits on the noun - however, it can be used under some circumstances in non-negative sentences, esp. if the verb conveys some kind of negative opinion, negative action, negative state, etc)
7) suggestion marking
Let's try this : this.acc.suggestion try.imperf.imperative !
Wanna have pizza? : pizza.acc.sugg take.imperf [question particle]?
This morpheme can also be put on verbs and other non-case carrying words; however, it's listed with the secondary cases as it on nouns is in complementary distribution with the other secondary cases.