tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Apr 29 22:12:20 1998
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Re: KLBC - pronouns and verb suffixes
- From: Qov <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: KLBC - pronouns and verb suffixes
- Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 22:09:23 -0700
At 06:33 98-04-29 -0700, Ken wrote:
}Help!
}Pronouns with verb suffixes.
}
}I didn't know you could do that. Did I miss it in TKD?
You know you didn't miss it in TKD, because you just provided an example
below, but blink and you can miss the explanation. I spent months trying to
figure out how to say "I am not a Klingon" when I started. Have a look in
section 6.3, near the top of page 68. "Again the pronouns are used,
FOLLOWED, WHERE APPROPRIATE, BY VERBAL SUFFIXES." (emphasis mine).
}When is the proper time to use it and when not?
When the pronoun is acting in the sentence as the verb "to be," it takes the
verbal suffixes needed for the meaning. There's nowhere else to put them.
That means if the sentence is of the form:
<noun> <pronoun>. e.g. tlhIngan jIH - "I am a Klingon"
or
<noun> <pronoun> <noun>'e' e.g. wIjwI' ghaH tlhIngan'e' - "The Klingon is a
farmer."
The pronoun that is serving the role of the verb to be can take suffixes.
}Can you use nouns with verb suffixes?
No. Pronouns only take them when serving this special role, which nouns
can't play. However, see section 4.4 for a special case when certain verbs
can take noun suffixes.
}pa'DajDaq ghaHtaH la''e'
}The commander is in his quarters
}("As for the commander, he is in his quarters"). TKD
}
}bIghHa'Daq ghaHtaH qama''e'
}The prisoner is in the prison. KGT
Now does it make sense? How *would* you say "I am not a Klingon"?
Qov [email protected]
Beginners' Grammarian