Date: Wed, 12 Oct 1994 09:17:16 CST

From: salikoko mufwene mufw[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MIDWAY.UCHICAGO.EDU

Subject: Re: -"had" Constructions



In Message Wed, 12 Oct 1994 02:07:30 CDT,

"Donald M. Lance" ENGDL%MIZZOU1[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]uicvm.uic.edu writes:



On a comparative/contrastive note, the discussed of these 'have' constructions

reminds me that 'be' and 'have'='own' use the same word in, I think, Swahili,

with sort of a dative construction in the latter use.

In Lingala and Kikongo-Kituba, two languages I speak, the closest analog

is combining the verb COME with the applicative suffix. The latter is used

for benefactive as well as malefactive constructions. In cases more

specific than 'occur', diverse verb bases may combine with the applicative.

For instance, a car owner may complain that his/her child ruined their car

'on them'(?), or that a wreckless driver killed a pedestrian 'on them'(?),

etc. These are kinds of statements where the speaker suggests that somebody

other than the agent is victimized by the agent's action.

Sali.

Salikoko S. Mufwene

University of Chicago

Dept. of Linguistics

1010 East 59th Street

Chicago, IL 60637

s-mufwene[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]uchicago.edu

312-702-8531; fax: 312-702-9861