tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Dec 18 23:13:37 1996

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Re: law'/puS (was: KLBC. First attempt)

ghunchu'wI'vo':

> The law'/puS comparitive construction works only with verbs
> "expressing a quality or condition".  Trying to shoehorn an
> active verb like {yaj} into it results in absolute garbage.

SuStelvo':

> When chosing the verb of law'/puS sentence, you must choose a stative verb.  
> As Okrand says on TKD p. 70, "Any verb expressing a quality or condition may 
> fit into the Q slot."

> {yaj} is not a stative verb.    


What exactly is a quality or condition?  For example, does expectation qualify
as a condition?  (It certainly doesn't seem dynamic.)  Can we say:

  meQtaHvIS veS, SoH loS law' Hoch latlhpu' loS puS.

  While the war burned, you waited more than all the others.

(This was offered as a suggestion for a poem I'm translating into Klingon, and I
like the words, but I'm not at all sure about the grammar.)


T'Lark

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