tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Feb 12 06:33:23 2010

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RE: suffixes -lu'wI'

David Trimboli ([email protected]) [KLI Member] [Hol po'wI']

> From: Andrà MÃller <[email protected]>
> It seems that the main problem here is caused by our different analyses: you
> are judging from the lables and Okrand's descriptions, I am judging from
> what kind of sentences the language provides. Both is perfectly valid. So
> either you go with Okrand and say that {-lu'} marks that the subject as
> indefinite, plus, it causes that the prefixes to switch their indicated
> roles (subject to object and vice versa). Then {-wI'} is clearly impossible.
> Or you go for the alternative analysis: {-lu'} marks the subject as
> indefinite, then works like a normal passive (turning the object into the
> subject) which however allows the (indefinite) agent be marked as the direct
> object. Then it causes a switch in word order moving the subject to object
> position in the phrase. Then {-wI'} would be possible.

If you're trying to analyze the language without paying attention to
Okrand's explanations, how do you come to the conclusion that {-lu'}
creates a passive formâexcept by making the assumption that a possible
passive English translation requires a passive Klingon sentence?

> Both theories work. I now see that my theory is slightly more complex,

As far as I can tell, your theory requires the introduction of new rules
that are not explained or evidenced anywhere.

In any case, that {-lu'} indicates an indefinite subject is not a
theory; it is an axiom. Okrand tells us so. You can't ignore that.

> It's very untypical for a language to switch
> around the roles in portmanteau prefixes as such, but it's quite usual to
> switch one's word order around in some sentence-types. I know that judgement
> comes from terran languages and might not apply at all to Klingon.

Klingon does a lot of things that real-world natural languages do not
do. It does these things on purpose.

-- 
David Trimboli
http://www.trimboli.name/

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