One example that we should note when talking about how other languages are structurally different from English is this:I don't think there is one. But what you're talking about is remin- iscent of the distinction between languages which make heavy use of prepositional phrases (like English), versus languages which make use of "serial verb constructions" - that is, a string of verbs which all take the same subject/topic, and which together denote a complex action. Many West African languages are of the serial verb construction type. Some examples to illustrate how complex actions are handled in the two types of languages:
In English, the sentence "I swim across." would not be conceptually organized that way in French. I don't remember how to say it in French, but basically the sentence would come out more like "I cross by swimming."
What is the term used to describe this distinction?
English: "I cut the bread with the knife" SVC Lang: "I take knife cut bread" English: "I run into the house" SVC Lang: "I run enter house" English: "I gave the book to Bill" SVC Lang: "I hand book give-to Bill"And so on. Tokana is sort of a mixed case: It has both prepositional phrases and serial verb constructions. An example of the latter:
Ma sihanun = "I swam" Me theseh sihkunu = "I crossed the river" Ma sihanun thesah sihkunu = "I saw across the river" (lit. "I swim-PAST cross-the river")
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Last updated: 25 April, 1997