Re: [tied] I'm back with a few questions

> Reduplication most commonly denotes plurality of the
> transitive object or intransitive subject. It rarely
> denotes plurality of the transitive subject, for which other
> more explicit plural markers are usually available.
>
> E.g. Basque *da "to be", reduplicated form *di-da > *(d)ira,
> used for intransitive plural subject:
>
> *na-da (iza) > naiz "I am"
> *ka-da (iza) > haiz "you are"
> *0-da > da "he is"
> *ga-di-da > gara, gera "we are"
> *sa-di-da > zara, zera "you are"
> *0-di-da > dira "they are"
>
> versus *du "to have", red. *di-du
>
> *na-da-du > nau he has me
> *ka-da-du > hau he has you
> *da-du > du he has it
> *ga-da-di-du > gaitu (*gaaiddu) he has us
> *sa-da-di-du > zaitu (*zaaiddu) he has you
> *0-da-di-du > ditu (*daiddu) he has them
>

So much for Basque; but you made a general statement.

The way you stated it above, reduplication in the verb is a
phenomenon of ergative languages. What is your source for that?


Torsten