tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Aug 14 13:50:44 1996

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Re: qep'a' highlights (Hey let us in on it, guys)

This paragraph has been floating around the discussion for several 
days, and I no longer know who originated it: 

>> > >yabDu'raj tIjejmoH 'e' vImaS.  I prefer that you sharpen your minds.
>> >  
>> >  Hmm... Interesting.  Does the imperative work here?  I think it does in
>> >  Esperanto (mi preferas ke vi akrigu...)  Does it make sense though?
>> >  Something to think about.  Maybe a simple indicative is more
sensible.

In Esperanto, the form used for the imperative implies a "you" 
(sing. or pl.) subject if there is no explicit subject, but it can 
be used with any subject, including "you", to indicate the 
speaker's wishes that the event referred to happen (or not), as in 
the example. 

But such a construction is not a command, but rather an expression 
of desire. It may IMPLY a command, but that's an entirely 
different matter. If I tell my son "I want those dishes washed!", 
he infers (correctly) that my intention is to give an order, not 
just to vent a wish; but that is a conversational implicature 
(Grice, I don't remember the reference), not explicit in the 
grammar. I could IMPLY the same order with "The sink is full of 
dirty dishes" (or more likely my wife would say that to me), which 
cannot possibly be seen grammatically as a command. But such a 
roundabout means of expression would be wholly un-Klingon. 

Now, TKD (4.1.2, p.34) says:
    A special set of prefixes is used for imperatives, that is, 
    verbs giving commands. Commands can be given only to *you* or 
    *you (plural)*.
And throughout the section, verbs using the imperative prefixes 
are referred to as "commands", and in no other way. Nothing is 
said about any other use of the imperative prefixes: they are 
authorized for commands only. The possible usage under 
discussion is not a command. Ergo, it would not be a legitimate 
use of the imperative. 

     marqem, tlhIngan veQbeq la'Hom -- Heghbej ghIHmoHwI'pu'! 
Subcmdr. Markemm, Klingon Sanitation Corps -- Death to Litterbugs!
**              Mark A. Mandel : [email protected]             **
    Dragon Systems, Inc. : speech recognition : +1 617 965-5200 
 320 Nevada St., Newton, MA 02160, USA : http://www.dragonsys.com/
=> KLINGON PAGE! http://www.dragonsys.com/klingon/klingon.html <=

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