tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Feb 23 19:14:12 1999
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Re: qama'
In a message dated 2/22/1999 8:18:36 PM US Mountain Standard Time,
[email protected] writes:
<< That's what its object has been all along. TKD page 70: {chay' jura'}
-- ghunchu'wI'
>>
Second reply:
Are you considering {ju-} containing both a subject "you" and and object "us"?
Uh-oh. This is where Klingon differs from English but not from so many
American Indian languages of the western United States and Melanesian and
Micronesian languages, Mayan, Quechua, and Swahili (there might be many more
that I do not know about). The pronominal prefix is not a subject+object
combination at all. People who think in English might see it that way; but
it is not true. The pronominal prefix, by definition of being a pronominal
and a prefix, is a directional prefix. The prefix says who is doing the
action of the verb to whom. But, the subject of a sentence is a separate word
and the object of the sentence is a separate word.
Examples: {loD legh puq} has four elements: object, null pronominal prefix,
verb, and subject. {loD Dalegh} has three elements: object, pronominal
prefix indicating the direction of "you (singular) --> him/her/it/them," and
the verb. There is no subject in Klingon, even though there would be in the
English translation (You). {Dulegh} has two elements: the pronominal prefix
meaning "he/she/it --> you (sing.)" and verb. There is neither a subject nor
an object in the Klingon, only in the equivalent English.
{loD leghlu'} actually has four elements: obejct, pronominal prefix, verb,
and a verb suffix. The suffix indicates "indefinite subject"; but, there is
no subject in the Klingon sentence.
peHruS