tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jul 28 16:49:44 1998

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Re: KLBC - Adverbials


---Burt Clawson  wrote:
>
> KLBC - Adverbials

choHaghmoH, tu'vel.  mu'tlheghmeylIj tlhaQ law' chovnatlhmeywIj tlhaQ
puS.

> motlh QongDaq vIghoS jIDoy'DI'.  
> "I usually go to bed when I am tired."
By Okrandian rules it doesn't matter where you put the /jIDoy'DI'/, so
I have no reason to tell you it would feel better before the main
clause. But it would.  Nothing wrong with your adverb.

> DaH nuq DaneH?  "Now, what do you want?"
> QIt qajoy' vIneH neH.  "I just want to torture you slowly."
> Do'Ha' potlh vIbuSba'taHvIS pIj wup vavwI' loDnI' puqloD jay'.
> "Unfortunately my friggin' cousin frequently bursts into song while 
> I'm obviously concentrating on something important."

majQa'.  

> roD pa'wIjDaq lojmIt vIngaQmoH.  "I customarily lock the door to my
> room."

maj.  You could also say just /pa'wIj lojmIt/ "the door of my room" 
/pa'wIjDaq lojmit .../ could refer to another door inside your room.

> vaj 'ellaHbe'.  "So, he cannot enter."
> chaq jIqIDtaH 'ach chaq chIch vIjatlh.  "Perhaps I am joking, but
> perhaps I said it on purpose."
> pay' SuSovbe', qar'a'?  "Suddenly, you don't know, right?"
> ghaytanHa' qaSaw.  "I am unlikely to marry you."
> not bong  jItlhIv.  "I am never accidentally insubordiante."

majQa'.  bItlhaQ.  latlhpu'vaD mughmeH mu'tlheghmey DaqonnIS.  pIj
vIng chaH "I don't know what to write."  Do' DunuQbe'bej Sengvetlh.

> reH nIteb jISop.  "I always eat alone."

To my understanding the point of /nIteb/ is "acting alone"
"independently" not so much "while alone."  So to me the sentence
above implies that you don't ever require help to eat, not that you
don't eat in the company of others.  The latter meaning I would
express with /jImobtaHvIS/. 
 
> tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhtaHmeH Do' tugh loQ jIpo'.
> "With luck I will soon be a little skilled at speaking Klingon."

I think I corrected you recently for using /Do'/ as a conditional, and
I realize now I was likely wrong.  /Do'/ definitely means "with luck"
as in "in a manner that indicates luck," "luckily."  I haven't seen it
mean "if I am lucky" in canon; I don't even remember others using it
that way on the list, but that is the common meaning of "with luck" in
English. For this meaning we also have /jIDo'chugh/.

So /Do' DoS vIqIp/ could mean "Luckily, I hit the target" or "With
luck, I will hit the target."  And in a tenseless language it makes
sense for the adverb to perform that way.

> pIjHa' batlhHa' Hegh tlhIngan vaj.  "A Klingon warrior seldom dies
> dishonorably."

According to KGT, /vaj/ represents the concept of warrior rather than
an individual warrior.  It look like /SuvwI'/ is the better choice
here.  A possible misinterpretation of a sentence structured this way
is "A Klingon warrior dies dishonourably and seldom."  Not a likely
interpretation here, but watch for problems like this if you use
stacked adverbs.

> tlhoS jaghpu'ra' boqaDrup.  "You are nearly ready to face your
enemies."

maj.

> wej bochbe' puch.  "The toilet is not shiney yet."  nom yISay'moHchu'!
> "Quickly, clean it perfectly!"

/wej boch/ is sufficient.  You've said "not yet not shiny," implying
that the task is to Say'Ha'moH it.

> pe'vIl cheSvelDaj yIteq!  "Remove his coat forcefully!"

Weird command.  Fine sentence.

> jaS maQub SoH jIH je.  "You and I think differently."

maj.

> puqhommey vIghIj 'e' rut vIparHa'.  "Sometimes I like to scare the
> little children scattered all about."

Missed a shift on /H/, but you know that.  Here's one to think about:
/'e'/ takes the object position in the SAO sentence.  So where does
the adverb go?  Before the SAO, as far as we can figure.  Thus /..rut
'e' vIparHa'/.  
  
> SIbI' tIjang!  "Answer them immediately!"

maj.

> Here comes the general debate on the use of some of the adverbials!

Not a LOT of controversy here.  (noybogh mu'mey Qav bIH'a') 

==

Qov - Beginners' Grammarian

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