tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed May 06 20:53:04 1998
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Re: KLBC: Question as object (again)
ja' Edy:
> Can I use [nuq Hech DIpvam 'e' DaSov'a'] as
>"Do you know what this name means?"
You can try to use it, but I recommend that you don't. There are two
controversial points here:
{Hech} means "intend, mean to", and likely wants to have an action as its
object. {jISop 'e' vIHech} "I intend to eat" or {muSuch 'e' Hech} "He
intends to visit me." Consider instead {'oS} "represent".
The whole idea of using a question as the object of another sentence is
very iffy in general. The pronoun {'e'} is supposed to stand for the whole
preceding sentence, but your question is asking if you know the answer to
the single word "what".
Whenever you find yourself trying to use a {nuq} or {'Iv} in a sentence
before {'e'}, it can usually be more clearly expressed using a relative
clause with {-bogh}.
{Doch'e' 'oSbogh pongvam DaSov'a'}
"Do you know the thing that this name represents?"
-- ghunchu'wI'