tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Jul 05 07:16:11 1998

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RE: suffixes in comparative sentences, etc


> "mood (gram.) an aspect of a verb indicating whether the speaker
> regards the denoted action as a fact, a probability or possibility, a
> command etc."
>
> .. and the V6s fit that definition.  I know there is a different,
> more specific term for this because I am learning another language
> that has them, but I've forgotten the term.  Holtej?

"Mood" is a grammatical form that indicates a sentence's modality.  One type
of modality can express the degree of the speaker's belief in the truth,
accuracy, desireability, etc., of the statement.  So in this sense "mood"
can describe the V6 suffixes that indicate quality (the "mood" of a sentence
is the grammatical form that indicates the modalities of quality).

There are other types of modality beyond the meanings included in the V6
suffixes.  For instance, one type of modality is the "directive", or
imperatives.  So, the mood of a command in Klingon is the imperitive verb
prefix.  The modality of such a sentence is directive.  The point is,
although "mood" correctly includes the meaning of the V6 suffixes, that's
not all it means.

Also, some people use the terms "mood" and "modality" interchangeably.

To be clear, it's probably best to refer to the specific grammatical forms
in question (i.e., "V6", "imperative", etc.), and not try to sound too fancy
by using terms like "mood" and "modality," which don't help people who don't
know them, and aren't specific enough for people who do.

vuDwIj neH 'oH.  chaq Qochlu'.

--Holtej

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