tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Mar 14 20:46:05 1994
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Infinitives and STVI?
- From: [email protected] (Mark E. Shoulson)
- Subject: Infinitives and STVI?
- Date: Tue, 15 Mar 1994 09:44:10 -0500
- In-Reply-To: "Matt Gomes"'s message of 14 Mar 1994 08:06:32 -0800 <[email protected]>
>From: "Matt Gomes" <[email protected]>
>Date: 14 Mar 1994 08:06:32 -0800
>qaghItlhneS:
>I've been mulling over what Amy said to me.. a refresher...
>> "I want to translate it" = vImugh vIneH
>Does this mean that you can get an infinitive structure by placing your
>infinitive (and prefix) before your verb? I tried to find something that
>refers to infinitives (and gerunds?) in TKD, but, no luck? Help please?
OK, the reason you couldn't find anything on infinitives and gerunds in TKD
is pretty simple: Klingon doesn't have them. Really. It makes do with
subordinate clauses. Read section 6.2.5. Basically, the deal is that you
use the special pronoun "'e'" (or "net" is specific cases) to refer to one
clause as the object of another. So, "I intend to kill the Ferengi" is
"verengan vIHoH 'e' vIHech". That is "I kill the Ferengi. I plan that
(the previous sentence)". See how it goes? It's not an infinitive
structure, it's a real live finite verb, in fact a complete clause, that
is used as the object of the next sentence (tho we tend to think of them as
one sentence). "neH" is anomolous in that you don't use "'e'" with it, so
instead of "*vImugh 'e' vIneH" for "I want that I translate it", it's just
"vImugh vIneH". Why? Because that's how it is. Eat your qagh before it
dies. It's irregular that way. It's not that you can create infinitives
by putting the verb before the main verb. It's using sentences as objects.
>Qapla'!
>-majIq
~mark