Re: Basic grammar question

["Qang qu'wI'" <qang.qu.wi@gmail.com>]

On Dec 4, 2007 7:26 PM, Alan Anderson <aranders@insightbb.com> wrote:
> ja' Qang qu'wI':
>
>
> > What spontaneously occurred to me in the case that I originally
> > posted was
> > the feeling that I really construct {maleng qorDu'wIj jIH je} using
> > English
> > grammar, save for the re-ordering that comes from Klingon grammar.
>
> Is that really the case?  I wonder how and when you feel the {ma-}
> gets added.  When I say something like that, I'm undeniably using
> Klingon grammar.  The verb is {maleng} from the beginning of my
> turning the thought into words.
>

Yes, I would say that I actually did feel the {maleng} and it came first.
But then, I don't have any feel for the construction of the subject, so I
drop into analytical mode and in my head I'm thinking in English "my family
and I".   For whatever reason, in Klingon {qorDu'wIj jIH je} feels stilted
to me.


> > There are really two avenues that Klingon could have had stronger
> > distinctions from English in the above.
> >
> > 1)
> > It could possibly have worked that when the prefix {ma-} is used,
> > since that
> > automatically indicates that the speaker is included in the
> > subject, {jIH
> > je} could be inferred and added to whatever the subject was (if
> > needed):
> >
> > **bad Klingon: ** {maleng targh}  "the targh and I travel"
>
> Ecch.  Just my personal reaction.  :-)  This avenue has a major "just
> because I said so" feel to it.  Why {jIH je} and not {maH je}, for
> instance?
>

Great point.


>
> I'd actually interpret this to mean "we targs travel".
>

That's interesting.  Voragh mentions that he thinks that {maleng qorDu'}
might also be allowed, which seems like perhaps a similar feel to what you
are describing.  The only feel I have is that {maleng targh} and {maleng
qorDu'} are a broken sentences, or suddenly stop short.

-- 
Qang qu'wI'