tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Nov 22 10:55:49 2004
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Re: how long is it?, etc.
Voragh:
> >>You may have to use {ngu'} with a relative clause as we've seen
> >>in other questions of this type:
> >> 'uj 'ar 'abbogh yIngu'!
> >> Identify how many ujes it measures!
lay'SIv:
>What other questions of this type have we seen?
One example of an imperative + relative clause is from st.klingon (12/12/1996):
So what about the "what" (or "which") of your original question
("What/which is your favorite month?")? When asking someone a
question of this type, you are really asking him or her to make
a choice. So just be a Klingon and order them to do so:
"Identify the month that you very much prefer!":
jar DamaSqu'bogh yIngu'
another from st.klingon (7/1999):
Daq DaDabbogh yIngu'
Identify the place where you live (i.e. Where do you live?)
Perhaps a translation such as "Identify the place that you
live at" or "Identify the place that you inhabit" is more
revealing."
and one from KGT (p.105):
Similarly, if a Klingon wants to know something, he or she
may simply demand that the information be given. For example,
a common way to say Which weapon do you want? is not as a
question at all but instead as a command:
nuH DaneHbogh yIngu'!
(literally, "Identify the weapon that you want!").
> This example looks
>like a Question-As-Object, and is therefore controversial at best.
I'm not sure of your point, since {'uj 'ar} "how many ujes?" is not a
complete question (that is, it's not a properly formed sentence since it
lacks a verb), just a noun phrase used as the object of the verb {'ab},
similar to {nIn 'ar} in:
nIn 'ar wIghaj?
How much fuel do we have (left)? TKD/CK/PK
>Although I don't have any canon examples similar to it, the sentence
>above could (perhaps) be given better as
>{'uj mI' 'abbogh yIngu'!} - Identify the number of uj it measures!
Your version with {mI'} feels clumsy. I suppose you could just use {'uj}
alone:
'uj 'abbogh yIngu'!
Identify the ujes it measures.
Identify the ujes it has a length of!
since the object of {'ab} "have a length of, measure" is always a number -
i.e. {X 'uj} not *{'uj X} - which is the missing piece of information
you're demanding be identified.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons