tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Feb 08 10:25:23 2004
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Re: other person imperatives
----- Original Message -----
From: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2004 8:06 AM
Subject: other person imperatives
> In a message dated 2004-02-08 12:57:37 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> [email protected] writes:
>
>
> > . Does anyone know of a language in which you can give a command to
> > anyone but a second person?
> >
> english uses "let" for this (technically, i suppose, both examples are 2nd
> person imperatives, but the meaning is not 2nd person):
> 1st person (plural) is "let's do it"
> 3rd person is "let him do it".
> many languages (i.a. russian, german) have equivalent forms, but i can't
> think of any that has a unique or distinctive form for these meanings.
> stevo
It appears that I stand corrected...
Thanks to everyone who responded. I had no idea that this construction
("Let's go!") was, in fact, a "non-second-person imperative". I always
thought of it more as a {-jaj}-type of idea.
So, how do we apply this to "Let there be light?".
The Hebrew apparently has it as an imperative, and there very well might
have been someone he was talking to, as evinced by the use of "elohim"
("god-plural", right?) just a few words away.
I still vote for {yIwovchoH!}.
--ngabwI'
Beginners' Grammarian,
Klingon Language Institute
http://kli.org/
HovpoH 701142.8
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