tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Aug 02 08:43:25 1995
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: }} Need some advice..
- From: [email protected] (Alan Anderson)
- Subject: Re: }} Need some advice..
- Date: Wed, 2 Aug 1995 07:43:25 -0500
Jim Boniface writes:
>...how do you decide what is the
>main part and what is the subordinate clause?
A subordinate clause cannot stand by itself as a sentence.
"While they were negotiating we attacked them." The subordinate clause
here is "while they were negotiating" -- note that it is not a complete
sentence. The rest of the example, "we attacked them," can stand by
itself. The subordinate clause adds to the meaning of the main part of the
sentence.
The Type 9 "Syntactic markers" verb suffixes indicate subordinate clauses
in Klingon (see TKD sections 4.2.9 and 6.2.2). They translate concepts
like "when/as soon as", "if", "before", "while", "which/that", "for/in
order to", and "because".
Note that the position of the subordinate clause is arbitrary. I called it
"conventional" Klingon order when I suggested "While he is dragging you
away, you(imperative) repeatedly punch his throat." It's not "required"
order, it just happens to be the convention usually followed on this list.
You'd be just as grammatical if you said it the other way around:
"You(imperative) repeatedly punch his throat while he is dragging you
away."
-- ghunchu'wI'