tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Feb 01 14:20:45 2010

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Re: Cataphoric pronouns

Andrà MÃller ([email protected]) 

Very cool, thank you very much for the insight! Also in the other thread. I
wish I had all those canon texts I didn't know they were canon. :)
By the way, the counterpart of "cataphoric" is "anaphoric".

Greetings,
- André

2010/2/1 Steven Boozer <[email protected]>

> André Müller:
> >        Today it's about cataphoric pronouns. That is when you use a 3rd
> >person pronoun *before* you introduce the referrent as an overt noun
> phrase,
> >e.g. "His own shadow started to scare John." ââ?¬â?? this is pretty seldom in
> >German and English and sometimes sounds pretty weird if not rightout wrong
> >in sentences like "He visited John's father.", where "he" and "John"
> >refer to the same person.
> >  [...]
> >Now, when I construct Klingon sentences in writing, I sometimes start at
> >the end of the sentence, add the subject, then the verb before it, then
> the
> >direct object at the beginning and all the other stuff, usually because I
> >can process SVO easier and because I often translate something from
> English
> >or German. Then I sometimes come across sentences like this one:
> >
> >  {vavDaj Such wo'rIv.}
> >   Worf visits his father.
> >
> >The subject is an overt noun phrase, while the direct object bears a
> >pronominal possessive suffix. Thus, the pronominal suffix is used as a
> >cataphora. My question now: is this usual in Klingon, do we have many of
> >such phrases and do I not need to worry about sentence-internal
> >information structure, or am I translating too literally here?
> >Should it maybe be:
> Considering its rigid Object-Verb-Subject syntax, using pronouns this way
> is quite normal in Klingon.  Here are the examples just for {-Daj} "his,
> her":
>
>  pa'DajDaq ghaHtaH la''e'
>  The commander is in his quarters.
>  (As for the commander, he is in his quarters.) TKD
>
>  vaj toDDujDaj ngeHbej DIvI'
>  That means the Federation will be sending a rescue ship of its own. ST5
>
>  DujDaj HubtaHvIS Hegh 'e' tul Hoch tlhIngan
>  To die defending his ship is the hope of every Klingon. TKW
>
>  Qu'Daj ta'taHvIS Hegh 'e' tul Hoch tlhIngan
>  To die in the line of duty is the hope of every Klingon. TKW
>
>  may'meyDajvo' Haw'be' tlhIngan
>  A Klingon does not run away from his battles. TKW
>
>  qabDaj 'ang
>  He/she shows his/her face. KGT
>
>  Hoch jaghpu'Daj HoHbogh SuvwI' yIvup
>  "Pity the warrior who slays all his foes." KGT
>
>  HIchDaj yIQotlh!
>  Disable his/her handgun! KGT
>
>  qatlh betleHDaj tlhapbe'
>  Why doesn't he take his bat'leth? KGT
>
>  qorDu'Daj tuq 'oS Ha'quj'e' tuQbogh wo'rIv
>  The sash that Worf wears is a symbol of his family's house. S20
>
>  nujDajDaq mar'egh ghu
>  the baby sucks its big toe (HQ 10.2)
>
>
> Possessive pronouns can also be used non-cataphorically (?) however:
>
>  reH tay' ghot tuqDaj je
>  One is always of his tribe.
>  ("A person and his house are always together.") TKW
>
>  may'Daq jaHDI' SuvwI' juppu'Daj lonbe'
>  When a warrior goes to a battle, he does not abandon his friends. TKW
>
>  quv Hutlh HoHbogh tlhIngan 'ach qabDaj 'angbe'bogh
>  A Klingon who kills without showing his face has no honor. TKW
>
>  vangDI' tlhIngan SuvwI' ngoy' qorDu'Daj; vangDI' qorDu'Daj ngoy'
>   tlhIngan SuvwI'
>  The family of a Klingon warrior is responsible for his actions,
>   and he is responsible for theirs. TKW
>
>  SIQwI' lu'oy'moHmeH juppu'Daj 'oy'naQmey lo' chaH.
>  The Painstik is employed by friends of the recipient who use
>   the devices to inflict pain [...] S32
>
>  quv lughaj Archer HoD beqDaj je.
>  Captain Archer and his crew are honorable people. (ENT "The Augments")
>
>
> >By the way, is there a way to disambiguate 3rd person pronominal
> possessive
> >suffixes in the way of "his (i.e. someone else's)" vs. "his own" in
> Klingon?
>
> You know, I've wondered about this myself.  AFAIK Okrand has never
> discussed the matter.
>
> I only found two examples where Okrand translated sentences containing
> "own":
>
>  vaj toDDujDaj ngeHbej DIvI'.
>  That means the Federation will be sending a rescue ship of its own. ST5
>
> Emphasis is added with the Type-6 verb suffix {-bej} "certainly,
> undoubtedly, definitely"
>
>  tlhIngan ngoQmey chavmeH HoH tlhInganpu'.
>  Klingons kill for their own purposes.  TKW
>  (lit. "Klingons kill [in order] to achieve Klingon purposes.")
>
> Notice that instead of using a pronoun, he repeated the noun {tlhIngan}.
>
> Here's another example of repeating the noun for emphasis, this time when
> translating "mine" (a contraction of "my own"?):
>
>  lenglIj lutebjaj lengwIjvaD bel rap, Sov rap, ngoQ rap je
>   Danobpu'bogh
>  May your journey be filled with the same joy, wisdom, and
>   purpose you have given mine. (Frasier)
>
>
>
> --
> Voragh
> Canon Master of the Klingons
>
>
>
>

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