Comments for The World Atlas of Language Structures Online http://blog.wals.info Just another MPDL Blogs weblog Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:15:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 Comment on Position of Tense-Aspect Affixes by Hilda Koopman http://blog.wals.info/position-of-tense-aspect-affixes/#comment-1665 Hilda Koopman Sun, 28 Dec 2008 00:21:41 +0000 #comment-1665 Samoan is described as having independent TA particles (Hovdhaugen and Mosel 1992) (thus no inflectional tense/aspect marking) Samoan is described as having independent TA particles (Hovdhaugen and Mosel 1992) (thus no inflectional tense/aspect marking)

]]> Comment on Possessive Classification by Hilda Koopman http://blog.wals.info/possessive-classification/#comment-1623 Hilda Koopman Fri, 26 Dec 2008 20:26:19 +0000 #comment-1623 it is unclear to me why Samaon is not classified under "two classes". (the choice of a vs o is at least partially determined by the possessed noun (le lima o le tama 'the boys head' vs le ta'avale a le tama' the boy's car') it is unclear to me why Samaon is not classified under “two classes”. (the choice of a vs o is at least partially determined by the possessed noun (le lima o le tama ‘the boys head’ vs le ta’avale a le tama’ the boy’s car’)

]]> Comment on Blog Migration by robert http://blog.wals.info/blog-migration/#comment-1292 robert Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:15:48 +0000 http://blog.wals.info/?p=168#comment-1292 hm. that's not easy. HTML pages provide a mechanism to specify a favicon at a different location than the default http://blog.wals.info/favicon.ico But for the feeds i would have to provide a different favicon exactly there. If i fond a way to accomplish this via webserver configuration, i'll give it a go. Otherwise we'll have to live with the current state. hm. that’s not easy. HTML pages provide a mechanism to specify a favicon at a different location than the default http://blog.wals.info/favicon.ico

But for the feeds i would have to provide a different favicon exactly there. If i fond a way to accomplish this via webserver configuration, i’ll give it a go. Otherwise we’ll have to live with the current state.

]]> Comment on Blog Migration by michael cysouw http://blog.wals.info/blog-migration/#comment-1287 michael cysouw Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:53:30 +0000 http://blog.wals.info/?p=168#comment-1287 Maybe you could also customize the Favicon. In my RSS reader it still shown the default 'mu' icon. Could you use the same Favicon as in the address bar? Maybe you could also customize the Favicon. In my RSS reader it still shown the default ‘mu’ icon. Could you use the same Favicon as in the address bar?

]]> Comment on Datapoint for feature 105 and language wals_code_pny by robert http://blog.wals.info/datapoint-105-wals_code_pny/#comment-1050 robert Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:02:50 +0000 http://blog.wals.info/datapoint-105-wals_code_pny/#comment-1050 The value given in WALS Online 2008 is not correct, see http://blog.wals.info/value-assignment-error-in-chapter-105-for-panyjima/ The value given in WALS Online 2008 is not correct, see
http://blog.wals.info/value-assignment-error-in-chapter-105-for-panyjima/

]]> Comment on Ditransitive Constructions: The Verb ‘Give’ by Martin Haspelmath http://blog.wals.info/ditransitive-constructions-the-verb-give/#comment-738 Martin Haspelmath Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:06:13 +0000 #comment-738 Yes, that's correct. This is an error that will be corrected in the 2009 edition of WALS Online. Yes, that’s correct. This is an error that will be corrected in the 2009 edition of WALS Online.

]]> Comment on Ditransitive Constructions: The Verb ‘Give’ by Teresa Torres http://blog.wals.info/ditransitive-constructions-the-verb-give/#comment-692 Teresa Torres Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:50:57 +0000 #comment-692 Panyjima appears as an example of "double-object construction", since both objects are marked with accusative case. But in the description of the language, and in the map, it appears as a "secondary-object construction". So, are there another characteristics in the language that make it more a "secondary-object" type than a "double-object" one, despite of case marking? Thank you very much Teresa Torres ling.rutgers.edu Panyjima appears as an example of “double-object construction”, since both objects are marked with accusative case. But in the description of the language, and in the map, it appears as a “secondary-object construction”. So, are there another characteristics in the language that make it more a “secondary-object” type than a “double-object” one, despite of case marking?

Thank you very much

Teresa Torres
ling.rutgers.edu

]]> Comment on Datapoint for feature 51 and language wals_code_jpn by admin http://blog.wals.info/datapoint-51-wals_code_jpn/#comment-36 admin Sat, 18 Oct 2008 14:17:11 +0000 http://blog.wals.info/datapoint-51-wals_code_jpn/#comment-36 The value given in WALS Online 2008 is not correct, see http://blog.wals.info/value-assignment-error-in-chapter-51-for-japanese/ The value given in WALS Online 2008 is not correct, see http://blog.wals.info/value-assignment-error-in-chapter-51-for-japanese/

]]> Comment on Definite Articles by Martin Haspelmath http://blog.wals.info/definite-articles/#comment-24 Martin Haspelmath Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:30:16 +0000 #comment-24 Please note the following passage in the chapter text:<br /> <br /> "In some languages, the definite marker is a clitic which can appear on nouns or on postnominal modifiers, most commonly on the final word in the noun phrase. Such definite clitics are not treated here as definite affixes, but as definite words, falling into one of the first two types."<br /> <br /> So the author classifies the Basque article as a clitic because it is not always attached to the noun. This may not be in line with the traditional (spelling-based) view of the Basque article, but it is internally consistent. Please note the following passage in the chapter text:

“In some languages, the definite marker is a clitic which can appear on nouns or on postnominal modifiers, most commonly on the final word in the noun phrase. Such definite clitics are not treated here as definite affixes, but as definite words, falling into one of the first two types.”

So the author classifies the Basque article as a clitic because it is not always attached to the noun. This may not be in line with the traditional (spelling-based) view of the Basque article, but it is internally consistent.

]]> Comment on Politeness Distinctions in Pronouns by Peter Kosta http://blog.wals.info/politeness-distinctions-in-pronouns/#comment-23 Peter Kosta Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:14:31 +0000 #comment-23 Dear Martin,<br /> <br /> thank you very much for your comments and yes: this is true: The Noun Phrases PAN, PANI... are of nominal origin but behave now in certain contexts like pronouns (just like German Sie - du or <br /> French Vous - tu, toi. BUT: if you take certain titles like Pane profesorze "Mr. Professor" in Vocative vs. .... jak Pan profesor mysli in Nominative Sg. "how Professor (honorific) <br /> thinks") -- things become syntactically tricky and more complex: I can refer you to an article and a <br /> book by £aziñski, Marek (2006), "O panach i paniach. Polskie rzeczowniki tytularne i ich asymetria rodzajowo-p³ciowa", Warszawa. Wydawnictwo naukowe PWN. There you will find that the problem is not as easy as it seems to be...<br /> <br /> I shall be glad if I may contribute to the dictionary.<br /> <br /> Best wishes,<br /> Peter<br /> Dear Martin,

thank you very much for your comments and yes: this is true: The Noun Phrases PAN, PANI… are of nominal origin but behave now in certain contexts like pronouns (just like German Sie - du or
French Vous - tu, toi. BUT: if you take certain titles like Pane profesorze “Mr. Professor” in Vocative vs. …. jak Pan profesor mysli in Nominative Sg. “how Professor (honorific)
thinks”) — things become syntactically tricky and more complex: I can refer you to an article and a
book by £aziñski, Marek (2006), “O panach i paniach. Polskie rzeczowniki tytularne i ich asymetria rodzajowo-p³ciowa”, Warszawa. Wydawnictwo naukowe PWN. There you will find that the problem is not as easy as it seems to be…

I shall be glad if I may contribute to the dictionary.

Best wishes,
Peter

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