tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Sep 09 06:36:11 1994
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Re: tu'lu' vs. lutu'lu'
On Fri, 9 Sep 1994, Mark E. Shoulson wrote:
> We use "tu'lu'" pretty often, at least I do. ... It occurred to me
> that "-lu'" requires a "lu-" prefix for plural objects, ... the PK
> phrase "to'baj 'uS lughoDlu'bogh" for "stuff toebadge legs."
> Then I remembered a canon phrase from the phrasebook: naDev tlhInganpu'
> tu'lu'. Oh my. Is this a typo in the phrasebook?
Look at TKD, page 39, in the middle of the page... "When <the suffix -lu'
is> used with the verb tu' ... and a third-person singular subject
pronoun (0), the resulting verb form tu'lu' ... is often translated by English
there is.
Carefull there! It doesn't say when the subject is third-person
singular. It says, "when used with a third-person singular subject
pronoun." Although it seems ungrammatical...when you want to say, "there
are," you use the null prefix. As shown by the example given:
naDev puqpu' tu'lu'
I would say use tu'lu to mean "there is/there are" and lutu'lu' to mean
"they are found" or proper variations there of. tu' is a special word.
It can have a special meaning when it takes the null prefix. tlhIngan
tu'lu' would mean "There is a Klingon." And tu'lu' tlhIngan would mean "The
Klingon is found." Which brings up a question I've wondered for a long
time. When using the word tu'lu' where does the noun go? I have put the
noun after the verb because it matches the prefix that way, but TKD
doesn't really tell us what to do. What are y'alls thoughts?
janSIy }}:+D>