tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Apr 29 17:23:13 1997
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RE: KLBC: Must
- From: "David Trimboli" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: KLBC: Must
- Date: Tue, 29 Apr 97 23:17:23 UT
[email protected] on behalf of Q'ISt'ova (Eliseo d'Annunzio, Esq.) wrote:
> Okay, then... Well, according to what you've said, SuStel, we must have a
> direct command prefix for "You-none" and the "need" verbal suffix added to
> the "to die" verb, and if we are to emphasize it we'll need to add the
> emphatic suffix...
>
> So "You MUST die" would be interpreted as "You NEED to die" and thus we'd
> have something like.. "yIHeghnISqu'" How is that?
No. "You must die" is not a command, it is a statement. No amount of
emphasis will change the fact that this is a statement. You are stating that
I must die. As a statement, this becomes {bIHeghnIS} "You need to die." If
you want to command me, you'll be commanding me to "Die." {yIHegh}.
Rule of thumb: don't use {-nIS} on imperative verbs. You never command
someone to need something.
--
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97327.8