Re: [tied] Got to thinkin' about word order

> It should be
> also noted that the genitive (or if available, a special
> partitive) can be used to convey indefiniteness (French /Je
> bois de l'eau/ using the genitive particle /de/ "of, from"
> for a partitive marker, the equivalent of Finnish's /Vetta"
> juon/ that uses a specific partitive case, all to convey "I
> drink some water" or rather "I drink from the water" as we
> may say in English).
>

The same in Lithuanian and Russian (<às^ is^gé:riau vandeñs> and <ja
výpil vodý> 'I drunk some water'). I wonder if this is related to
Balto-Slavic genitive < ablative (in *o-stems) somehow.

Sergei