tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jan 27 15:45:55 1998
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Re: KLBC Poetry (the child is happy)
- From: Qov <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: KLBC Poetry (the child is happy)
- Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 15:44:51 -0800
At 21:53 98-01-26 -0800, ghunchu'wI' wrote:
}ja'chuq Edy Qov je:
}>}>I believe I see what you are thinking, though. Let me explain.
}>}
}>} [..]
}>}
}>}>killed the bug" OR "the bug which the child has killed" (ambiguous)
}>}
}>} I would like to discuss this topic later.
}>}
}>}>Resolve the ambiguity with the {-'e'} topic marker on the subject of
}>}
}>} I know it and I did it in the sentence below.
}>
}>Yes, I was explaining that step by step for the benefit of other people who
}>could learn from what you were doing. I try to make explainations useful
}>for more than one person.
}>
}>}>{Quch ghew HoHpu'bogh puq'e'} - "The child who has killed the bug is
}>>happy."
}>}>
}>}>Yes, the word {Quch} is closer to the word {ghew} than the word
}>}>{puq}, but that's ok. It is perfectly clear that it is the child
}>}>that is happy. The whole relative clause is the subject of the verb
}>>{Quch}.
}>}
}>} Ahhh .. This is the point. If the subject has the
}>}topic 'e' suffix, the it refers to the previous
}>}sentence (in this case).
}>
}>yay! I hoped that was the point you needed.
}
}Oops. I think Edy is confusing the "topic" suffix and the "previous sentence"
}pronoun. They are spelled the same, but they are unrelated to one another.
Well caught, ghunchu'wI'. I missed the confusion because I was looking for
understanding. This is a VERY important point. Edy and others please take
note that the {-'e'} suffix bears no relation to the word {'e'} except in
spelling.
}There are three reasons one might use {-'e'} the suffix. Its primary role
}is to make the noun it's attached to into the topic of the sentence.
} {taj jejmoHpu' yaS'e'} "It was the *officer* who sharpened the knife."
} {taj'e' jejmoHpu' yaS} "It was the *knife* that the officer sharpened."
}
}When a pronoun is used as the verb "to be", an explicit subject always gets
}the topic suffix {-'e'}.
} {nuH 'oH butlh'e'} "Dirt under the fingernails is a weapon."
} {ravDaq 'oHtaH waqwIj'e'} "My shoe is on the floor."
}
}In a relative clause with both a stated object and a stated subject, {-'e'}
}is used to mark the head noun. That's what is happening in the sentence
}being discussed above.
} {Quch ghew HoHpu'bogh puq'e'} "The child who killed the bug is happy."
} {Quch ghew'e' HoHpu'bogh puq} "The bug that the child killed is happy."
}
}None of these involve a reference to the previous sentence. That would be
}the role of the pronoun {'e'}, which is *always* used as the object of a
}sentence, as a separate word.
} {Quch puq 'e' vIlegh} "I see that the child is happy."
} {ghew HoHpu' puq 'e' vIHar} "I believe that the child has killed the bug."
}
}I hope this cleared up some confusion without causing more.
Qov [email protected]
Beginners' Grammarian