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- Newsgroups: sci.lang
- Path: sparky!uunet!usc!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!news.columbia.edu!cunixf.cc.columbia.edu!pcj1
- From: pcj1@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Pierre Jelenc)
- Subject: Re: Subject and object confusion (Was: Re: "n'ha"...)
- Message-ID: <1993Jan23.180330.2084@news.columbia.edu>
- Sender: usenet@news.columbia.edu (The Network News)
- Nntp-Posting-Host: cunixf.cc.columbia.edu
- Reply-To: pcj1@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Pierre Jelenc)
- Organization: Columbia University
- References: <1993Jan21.052233.17711@trl.oz.au> <1993Jan21.101921.5122@memstvx1.memst.edu> <38367@uflorida.cis.ufl.edu>
- Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 18:03:30 GMT
- Lines: 22
-
- In article <38367@uflorida.cis.ufl.edu> bro@elm.circa.ufl.edu (John Bro) writes:
- ># By the way, aren't there some French constructions where it's unclear
- ># whether a noun following an infinitive is an object or subject?
- >#
- ># Wir lassen ihn nicht operieren.
- ># 'We won't let him operate.'
- ># 'We won't let him be operated on.'
- >#
- >The French translation is equally ambiguous:
- >
- > On ne le laissera pas operer/opere' (no phon. distinction)
- >
-
- Except that one would not say "on ne le laissera pas ope're'".
- The verb must be expressed somewhere, thus:
-
- On ne le laissera pas ope'rer
- On ne le laissera pas e^tre ope're'
-
-
- Pierre Jelenc pcj1@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu
- Columbia University, New York
-