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LINGUIST List 19.2875

Mon Sep 22 2008

Qs: Goal-Location-Source Ambiguities

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        1.    Sander Lestrade, Goal-Location-Source Ambiguities
Message 1: Goal-Location-Source Ambiguities
Date: 22-Sep-2008
From: Sander Lestrade <S.Lestradelet.ru.nl>
Subject: Goal-Location-Source Ambiguities
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Dear linguists,

I am looking for languages that do not make a distinction between source
and location in their spatial case system, but do have a separate case
marker for goal meaning. The common syncretism is between location and
goal, source being expressed by a specialized marker. However, according to
Creissels (2006), at least some languages in North East Africa have a
pattern like Dinka:

Dinka (andersen 2002, in Creissels 2006)
he pressed it into the fire.ALL
the food is on the fire.ESS/ABL
the fish is crawling out of the fire.ESS/ABL

Does anyone know of languages that have a separate case marker for goal and
underspecify the distinction between location and source? Although I'm
mainly interested in case systems, spatial adpositions with this pattern
are interesting as well.

Thanks in advance!

Linguistic Field(s): Morphology
                            Syntax
                            Typology
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