tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Apr 10 18:43:59 1995
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Re: Analysis of {mo'taq lut}
On Mon, 10 Apr 1995, Alan Anderson wrote:
> (written Tuesday, March 28)
>
> >From A.Appleyard's analysis:
> > * ghojtaHghach taghmeH ghojtaHghach taghbogh De''e' lo' vaj 'e' 'ut
> > @ It is necessary that warrior uses information which begins continuous
> > learning for the purpose of beginning continuous learning
>
> {'ut} "be essential, necessary" is what we call a "stative" verb. It
> "expresses a quality or condition." It does not take a direct object.
> Your sentence can be reduced to {'e' 'ut}, which "translates" as
> "[no subject] is necessary the previous clause." It is marginally
> understandable, but only because the translation happens to match a
> combination of passive voice and sentence-as-subject that exists in
> English. As I have often been reminded, tlhIngan Hol has no way to
> use a sentence as a subject.
>
> In this case, there's an easy solution. Use the verb suffix {-nIS}:
> {ghojtaHghach taghmeH ghojtaHghach taghbogh De''e' lo'nIS vaj}
This sentence implys that the subject is he, she or it and the reader
should be able to understand from the context who the subject of the
sentence is. Klingon does not omit the subject, you can: (1) specify who
or what the subject is; (2) imply who or what the subject is by using verb
prefixes or pronouns; or (3) indicate the subject is unspecified.
If the subject is unspecified, then you would use {-lu'} or {vay'}.
You could also simplify {ghojtaHghach taghmeH} by using {-choH} which
also indicates the initiation of a process:
I'm not sure I understand exactly what the original sentence above is
supposed to mean but if I interpret the statement correctly, I think you
could say:
ghojchoHlaHmeH vay', ghojchoHlu' 'e' DuHmoHbogh De' lo'nISlu'.
(In order for someone to be able to begin learning, one needs to use
information which enables one to begin learning.)
> -- ghunchu'wI'
yoDtargh