On 2/18/2017 8:37 AM, David Holt wrote:
ghItlh SapIr:
I suspect that part of the problem is that, for native speakers of
English and most other European languages, the most natural place for the subject is before the verb. Thus, when we see *Soj vutlu'*, our instincts tell us that *Soj* is the subject, rather than an object in a sentence that doens't have an overt subject.
I can't speak for others who have asked this question, but placement of the object had nothing to do with my question. I based my question solely from the perspective that the pronominal prefixes which normally indicate first- or second-person subject are used with {-lu'}. My hope was that following that model, we could also allow {-wI'} to see the assumed object as the subject. There is a form of "promotion" of object to subject, though admittedly incomplete, especially since the explicit object placement does not change. I admit that I couldn't recall the results of previous discussions and so threw it in as an additional possability to be discussed for my purposes. I was not proposing it as my best suggestion and knew there was a good chance others would shoot it down. I accept their objections.
The exact sentence TKD uses to explain the indefinite subject prefixes is this: "Those prefixes which normally indicate first- or second-person subject and third-person singular object (*vI-, Da-, wI-, bo-*) are used to indicate first- or second-person object." TKD is telling us that the object of a verb with *-lu'* remains an object with *-lu'* there. The prefixes are being reassigned; they no longer have their old roles when *-lu'* is used. There is no promotion of object to subject. -- SuStel http://trimboli.name