holbuzvala wrote: ↑23 Nov 2017 14:49
So, in Azvolaj, there is marking on verbs to agree with the subject and object depending on what noun class they fall into. The classes are:
1. human (e.g. man, writer, daughter)
2. human group (enemy, team, committee)
3. animate (dog, cat, river)
4. animate group (ants, bees, raindrops)
5. inanimate (boulder, tree)
6. inanimate group (leaves, pebbles, grapes)
7. abstract (heat, joy, wood)
8. places (Rome, the countryside, school)
And as we descend the list, we (I think) follow a descent in an animacy hierarchy.
Now, behold the following sentence: "The man and his dog ate a steak."
Here, the subject is 'The man and his dog', but this is of mixed noun class. Therefore:
1. Do you think the verbal agreement should agree with the man, or with his dog?
Or, more broadly,
1.b. Do you think the verbal agreement should agree with the
most animate noun of a mixed-class argument, or should the verb agree with the
least animate noun of a mixed-class argument?