tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Apr 24 13:12:51 2001
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RE: KLBC - Imperatives vs questions
- From: "Stauffer, Tad E (staufte7)" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: KLBC - Imperatives vs questions
- Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 16:12:45 -0400
yeygha' said:
> In the case of finding out information from someone, which is more
> appropriate: imperatives or questions? For example, to find out someone's
> name:
>
> {ponglij HIja'} Tell me your name.
> or
> {ponglij 'oH nuq?} What is your name?
>
Remember that when you use a "pronoun as to be" sentence like this, the 2nd
noun has the noun suffix {-'e'} added:
{ponglIj 'oH nuq'e'} "What is your name?", literally "It is your name;
what?"
The two nouns here would probably be better if you switched them:
{nuq 'oH ponglIj'e'} "What is your name?", literally "What is it? - your
name"
> This is assuming that the two speakers are socially equal.
>
Since tlhIngan Hol is an action-oriented language, often it is more direct
if you use a command.
For example, "Which food do you prefer?" could be rendered as:
{Soj DamaSbogh yIngu'.} "Identify the food that you prefer."
However, using question words, {nuq Soj} would actually mean "the food of
what", and not "which food". So obviously, using imperatives may better in
some cases.
Other times, either method would work, and you can choose which one to use.
Although a real Klingon might be more inclined to use a command, rather than
just asking.
- taD
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