tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jun 06 07:39:57 1995
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Re: Ditransitives
- From: Alan Anderson <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: Ditransitives
- Date: Tue, 06 Jun 95 09:38:28 -0700
'Iwvan wrote:
> ...{tajwIj vIlo'taHvIS qama' vIHoHta'} allows for the option
> that I killed the prisoner by kicking him in the throat whilst using
> my knife to peel an apple for my son...
I agree that {lo'taHvIS} permits this ambiguity. But {-meH} does not.
{qama' vIHoHmeH tajwIj vIlo'ta'} clearly says that I used my knife to
kill the prisoner.
> ...If I had
> the ability to add one thing to Klingon, it would be a Type 9 suffix
> with the meaning `by being/doing ...'
I think "By doing X I did Y" can be changed to "In order to do Y I did X"
without losing its meaning. A sentence with an instrumental can usually
be turned around to use a purpose clause instead. Lose the syntactical
baggage of English and try to think "in" Klingon!
> How do we say `The ale is as green as grass'?
> {SuDmo' HIq tI rur 'oH} somehow doesn't sound right.
Actually, it sounds just fine to me, but there might be a better way.
My first attempt is {tI rurmeH SuD HIq}, but that seems to imply the
color is somehow intentional. How about {tI rurbogh SuD HIq}? It's
not perfectly grammatical, alas, but it sounds close. How about
{tI rurmoHbogh SuD Hiq}? I'd better stop before I get too silly.
Oh, and if you really DID want to indicate your contrived scenario:
puqloDwI'vaD naH vISurghmeH tajwIj vIlo'taHvIS
qama' vIHoHta'meH HughDaj vIpup.
qaDHeylIj vIlajpu' 'ej vIjangpu'!
-- ghunchu'wI'