tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Aug 05 10:53:07 1996
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Re: how to say "any"
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>Date: Sat, 3 Aug 1996 13:55:30 -0700
>From: [email protected] (JEFF ZEITLIN)
>T::>My original and apparently unanswered question is: How do you say "Do you
> ::>speak any Federation language", in the sense of "any language spoken in
> ::>the Federation".
> Have you perhaps tried to ask the question _that_ way:
> DIvI'Daq jatlhlu' Hol Dajatlh'a' SoH
Too many main verbs, and word-order problems. If you make it "Hol
jatlhlu'bogh" you've probably got something. Otherwise you have two main
verbs, and the language is the one doing the speaking.
> {tlhIngan Hol} uses OVS (object-verb-subject) order (where a
> locative can apparently replace an object; look back at my
> first sentence in the list); try to break up your sentences
> into those three components. If necessary, do the same with
> each component, as I did above:
The locative doesn't replace an object. It's a locative, neither subject
nor object. See TKD p.60 for a sentence mentioning that, and the example
"pa'Daq yaS vIleghpu'" (I have seen the officer in the room.)
> So now we have {DIvI'Daq <they-speak> Hol}, and <they-speak> is
> {jatlhlu'}. Therefore, "a language which is spoken in the
> Federation" becomes {DIvI'Daq jatlhlu' Hol}, and this phrase in
> its entirety becomes the object of our original sentence. So,
> substitute it for <Fed-lang> above, and get the original
> {tlhIngan Hol} sentence I proposed:
Not quite, since "a language is spoken in the Federation" is "DIvI'Daq Hol
jatlhlu'", since the language remains the OBJECT and must come first. And
since you want a language WHICH is spoken, you need "DIvI'Daq Hol
jatlhlu'bogh."
> Now, I'm morally certain that I've made not less than one
> serious mistake here; I eagerly await correction by one of the
> more experienced and knowledgeable members of the list.
Only two, really. Not too bad.
>T::>Also, why is there no "n" on {vulqangan}? Should it not be {vulqaNngan}?
> ::>Does an ending "n" disappear when you add {-ngan}? That would explain
> ::>{tlhIn}, {tlhIngan}.
> Ask Marc Okrand - it's in TKD that way. However, even my
> limited exposure to linguistics has shown me that this kind of
> construction (i.e., elision of letters representing sounds that
> do not remain distinct) is not unusual.
Yep. It's called assimilation (resistance is useless. You will be
assimilated). I mentioned that myself a few posts ago, that this is the
one example of assimilation we've seen, at least in Klingon orthography.
~mark
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