tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Nov 04 11:01:23 1994
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Re: Ponder this....
>Date: Fri, 4 Nov 1994 13:43:39 -0500
>Originator: [email protected]
>From: [email protected] (David Barron)
>Here is an interesting query.
>Suppose you have a multi verb sentence like "My computer is malfunctioning
>so to fix it I'll need to travel."
>QapHa' De'wI'wIj vaj tI'lu'meH jIlengnIS.
>Now suppose you want to modify ONLY ONE OF THOSE VERBS with the adverb
>"slightly" = loQ.
You can put "loQ" (an adverbial) at the head of the clause which it
modifies. So:
>Noteing that adverbials go at the front of the sentence (TKD 5.4) how
>would you translate the following:
>1) My computer malfuntioned slightly....
> ^^^^^^^^^
loQ QapHa' De'wI'wIj...
>2) ...so to fix it a little bit....
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^
"...vaj loQ tI'lu'meH..."
>3)... so to fix it I must do alittle travleing.
> ^^^^^^^
vaj tI'lu'meH loQ jIlengnIS.
Why does this work? Because the sentences don't divide where you put
periods. "QapHa' De'wI'wIj" is a sentence. The "vaj" is an adverbial;
note how it comes at the head of the *next* sentence? So can loQ, another
adverbial. Which comes first is probably up to you. I think "vaj loQ"
makes sense here. Now the next sentence has a purpose clause. Those come
at the beginning of the sentence, and so do adverbials. Which comes first?
I'd say "whichever makes the most sense". In this situation, putting "loQ"
first is most likely to imply that the "loQ" modifies the "tI'" verb, and
putting it after the "-meH" clause would make it modify the main verb.
>Your thoughts are welcome.
That make sense to anyone?
~mark