tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Oct 26 09:12:52 2006
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: Dilbert Comic in Klingon for 2006/10/21
- From: McArdle <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: Dilbert Comic in Klingon for 2006/10/21
- Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2006 09:12:28 -0700 (PDT)
- Domainkey-signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws; s=s1024; d=yahoo.com; h=Message-ID:Received:Date:From:Subject:To:In-Reply-To:MIME-Version:Content-Type:Content-Transfer-Encoding; b=wfo5NzSfSDjenbrR4sStJBakmp6/cnb4UmyZ+AyTp+54iwRW9L8zbKncLAeJN2YUowlRsLrZfGZcSP70puWwPwCVcEuOqqvedeszDkTafQyvIjp/A/2IxHMqSrMEcMG04gsVRej8/UkD0TohsaUDjhLRoFfD48zSjiTleOnZmY8= ;
- In-reply-to: <[email protected]>
QeS 'utlh <[email protected]> wrote:
>ghItlhpu' McA:
>>Ah, the prefix trick. I must say this aspect of the language really
>threw
>>me
>>for a loop when I encountered it (entirely without explanation, IIRC)
>in
>>the
>>second lesson of the postal course ({qaghItlh DaneH}). Something deep
>>inside me
>>insists it's wrong, which is probably because I haven't studied Native
>>American
>>pronoun systems
>(/wiki/index.php?verb%20prefix%20trick).
>
>...er, or the English pronoun system? {{:)
>
>In English, many verbs can promote a benefactive/dative object to
>direct
>object status. Some examples I can think of off the top of my head:
>
>Pour me a drink!
>Bring me a cauldron!
>Buy me a beer!
>
Well, yeah, but English doesn't use both a pronoun and a noun for the same object. My understanding of the Klingon prefixes (correct me if I'm wrong) is that a sentence with pronominal subject and nominal object uses a verb prefix specifying both subject and object, even though the object reference is, in a sense, duplicate information.
{warnagh vIje'} (not *{warnagh jIje'})
as if
"I buy it: warnog."
Now, with the prefix trick, the object component of the prefix ceases to agree with the expressed object:
{warnagh qaje'}
which at first glance looks as if you're talking to your drink:
"I buy you: warnog."
This may be excellent Klingon, but it's not really like what happens in English.
Qapla'
McA
---------------------------------
Get your own web address for just $1.99/1st yr. We'll help. Yahoo! Small Business.