tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Aug 08 22:54:29 1995

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Re: }} {-wI'} on sentences



gheyIl writes:
>I believe that Okrand intended {-wI'} to be used to turn a verb into
>a noun - i.e. the thing which is doing the action which the verb
>describes. In other words, the subject of said verb.

Yes.  TKD 3.2.2 is pretty clear that this is indeed the intent.

>Now, if the
>subject is explicitly stated by use of a prefix (even the null 3rd
>person prefix), then {-wI'} is redundant, or worse, confusing.
>This does not preclude the use of other suffices:
>{tlhutlhtaHwI'=a drunk; chISmoHwI'=bleach} (no! not that again!)

Sure, though I don't find this explicit anywhere in TKD.

>I might be convinced that the verb in question could have
>an object, but then it would seem an awful lot like a N-N
>construction, although not a "possessive" construction.

My argument exactly: it SEEMS like a N-N construction, but because N-N is
supposed to be simply "possessive", it makes sense to consider instead that
{-wI'} can act on a verb which has an object.

 -- ghunchu'wI'





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