Timtim:Lobo, your original premise that we must say "helpi al" and that using "helpi iun" is ignoring the grammar of the language is incorrect.

Helpi, obei and peti are exceptional verbs in that they are marked as both transitive and intransitive. Take a look in PIV and you'll see (x) where other verbs have (tr) or (ntr). Part of the consequence of this lack of precision or prescription for these verbs is that from day one there was greater flexibility in how to use them in a sentence, and so we would see "helpi iun fari ion" alongside "helpi al iu" with both forms considered correct. Zamenhof even used both forms in the ekzercaro, writing "li tre multe helpis la disvastigon (aŭ al la disvastigo) de la lingvo" and "obei al patro, obei patron" and elsewhere "peti informon, helpon de iu; peti iun pri helpo".

Timtim,

thank you very much for that valuable input - i'll have to admit that I really got confused by the different google-translations; and I totally missed this point during my studies... And I certainly was kind of biased by my native language, where "helfen" inducts dative...

lobo

You're welcome, lobo. These things aren't part of any courses, so don't feel that you've missed them.

I think we're probably all under the influence of our native languages, which is probably why there was this lack of precision in the first place: many speakers would have known and viewed those verbs as used one way, many others as another, and so there was no obvious clarity and Z had no reason to choose one over the other. I suspect that there are probably some other examples too.

Tim