tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jul 28 19:46:46 2004
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: TKD phrase: {-meH} clause
At 06:48 AM 7/28/2004, lay'tel SIvten wrote:
>{Dochvetlh DIlmeH Huch 'ar DaneH}
>How much do you want for that?
>[lit.: How much money do you want in order to pay for that thing?]
>[TKD p.171] phrase #56
>Taking another look at this phrase I wonder if it's as ambiguous in Klingon
>as in English. It seems like something a father might ask his son when
>the boy
>asks him to let him buy something.
>In other words, the listener is the payer, which is definitely not the intent
>here.
>
>Now I would say {Dochvetlh vIDIlmeH Huch 'ar DaneH}, adding {vI-} "I" as the
>explicit subject of {DIlmeH}. Is context so strong in the paying scenario
>that this sort of explicitness is unnecessary?
I don't see anything wrong with the phrase. In this case, the purpose
clause appears to be modifying the noun {Huch}.
"How much money do you want (the purpose of the money is to pay for that
thing)?"
The general pattern seems to be that when a purpose clause modifies a noun,
the verb with the {-meH} suffix has a null prefix and doesn't use
{-lu'}. Other examples: {ghojmeH taj} and {ja'chuqmeH rojHom}.
{Dochvetlh vIDIlmeH Huch 'ar DaneH} would usually change the purpose clause
to modify the verb, in this case {neH}. However, that doesn't work as a
translation for "How much do you want for that?" because the purpose of the
seller wanting money isn't so that you can pay for the book (as you allude to).
Dar'Qang
qo''a'lIj DachenmoHtaH