Subject: ma'a as possessive: mass or individual?

From: Nick NICHOLAS <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2001 12:32:41 -0700 (PDT)

This came up on
http://nuzban.wiw.org/wiki/index.php?Each%20of%20us%20must%20bring%20their%20own%20toothbrush

--- and bless whoever puts these conundrums up!

How do you say "Each of us must bring their own toothbrush"?

Well, fascistically,

ro da po'u ma'a bilga lenu bevri le denci lumci tutci po da

The question is, can this reduce to

ro ma'a bilga lenu bevri le denci lumci tutci po ma'a

I think no, and that this sentence means "We all must bring *our*
toothbrush" --- i.e. the second ma'a in the sentence, like the first,
refers to a plurality of people, and (I construe) a mass, who all own the
thing in common. Adam thinks yes, and that the second ma'a behaves like da
("of each of us", rather than "of all of us".)

Is there anything anywhere that says one of these two interpretations is
incorrect? The Book gives me little light.

-- 
== == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == == ==
Nick Nicholas, Breathing {le'o ko na rivbi fi'inai palci je tolvri danlu}
[email-masked] -- Miguel Cervantes tr. Jorge LLambias