tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Feb 04 17:20:08 1998
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: KLBC:*Spice* be'Hommey che'Ha'qu'
paqgnevwI' jang Qov:
>}How can we tell them apart?
>} chay' DIchevlaH'a'?
>} [doesn't the {'a'} render the {?} superfluous?]
>
>It does. {chay' DIchevlaH} - "how can we separate them?"
>chay' DIngu'laH - "how can we identify them"
I think Qov misunderstood the question. Yes, question marks are
indeed superfluous, because Klingon grammar marks questions very
specifically. But aren't they superfluous in English too. :-)
It's standard practice on this list to use punctuation as a way
of clarifying the intended intonation and cadence of sentences,
but it eventually comes down to a matter of style.
It looks to me like Qov was answering a question about using the
{-'a'} suffix at the same time as a specific question word. The
interrogative {-'a'} is only used to make a yes/no question from
a statement. As soon as you ask something with {qatlh} or {nuq}
or ('Iv}, {'ar}, {ghorgh}, etc., it's not a yes/no question, and
{-'a'} is not appropriate.
That isn't the question you asked, but it's an answer you needed
to know. :-)
-- ghunchu'wI'