Example 39-116

El mem atəro a el.
El
3sg
mem
emph
atər-o
push-pst
a
acc
el.
3sg
HE pushed him.
Comment:
In Diu Indo-Portuguese, there is a pair of nearly interchangeable prepositions (a and ) which mark not only indirect objects but also (animate and pronominal) direct objects and even subjects (of experiencer verbs). In the literature on South Asian languages, case markers with similar distributions are sometimes called 'Dative-Accusative' markers, and subject arguments which receive them are called 'Dative subjects'. To make glosses more readable, these markers are variously glossed here as DAT or ACC, according to the role of the arguments in question. The capitals in the translation intend to signal the location of focus; in this sentence, focus is attributed to the actor through the use of the emphatic particle (mem).
Type:
naturalistic spoken
Source:
Cardoso 2009: 194