Dear Alan,

> I know that you stated you don't have a problem with translating

things "While doing the work." However, I am wondering more about the
grammar underlying such a translation in relation to the genitive
absolute. According to Warder a genitive absolute is constructed with
a noun or a pronoun (as agent) and a participle both in the genitive
and the agent and action stand apart from the agent and action of the
rest of the sentence. At first glance that seems to be happening here:

>
> (aha.m akaasi.m)........me karontassa.....kaayo kilanto.... Etc.
>
> (I worked), but indeed while I [was] doing work, [my] body tired.

So I am lying down.

>
>
> My question, then, is what is it about the above sentence that gives

you the clue that this is not a genitive absolute? How would the
sentence change if we wanted a genitive absolute construction?

>

I know you addressed this question to Dr Pind, who says he will answer
later, but since I started this discussion, I think I'll have a crack
at seeing whether I understand it.

Your analysis of the sentence above, according to genitive absolute
guidelines, looks very reasonable and quite feasible to me - in fact
that was my initial interpretation! But, I think that what Dr Pind is
saying that it isn't necessarily so, since 'me' goes together with
'kayo' in a simple genitive relationship 'my body', as in 'my body
tired'. Then 'karontassa' a pr. p. agreeing with 'me' further
qualifies it in conjunction with the acc. 'kamma.m', thus literally:
'the body of me doing the work tired.' This, of course can be
rendered more fluently in several ways, one of which could be "While I
was doing the work, my body tired."

With metta,
John