tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon May 15 08:25:01 1995
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Re: where-which
According to [email protected]:
>
> How do I refer to something in one sentence which is a locative in another.
> For example, "I am in the room where the emperor died." I know I could
> break it into 2 sentences, ala <pa'vamDaq Heghpu' ta' 'ej pa'vamDaq jIH.>
> Does anyone have any ideas on a relative construction of this, or do we just
> stick to the repetitive method?
>
> Brad
Since we really only have license to build relative clauses
around head nouns acting as subjects or objects, I think your
solution is as good as any. Of course, in this specific
instance, it would be simpler to say {naDev Heghpu' ta'.} One
presumes that by the use of {naDev} you are currrently in the
place in question. Still, that does not solve the larger issue.
Sometimes you could get by it with use of verbs that have
locations as direct objects, like {ghoS}. Hmmm. I just tried
that and it didn't work. The only association between the room
and the empiror is the location of the death. You can have the
room as the direct object of {ghoS}, but building a relative
clause around it doesn't work because the room is not a subject
or object of the verb {Hegh}.
We could try:
ta' Hegh pa' vIghoSta'.
I have gone to the empiror's death's room. Unfortunately, the
first three words each have the potential of acting as two
different parts of speech, making this one a real bear to
translate. {ta'} and {Hegh} can both be either nouns or verbs
and {pa'} can be a noun or a locative. Some consider {Hegh} to
also function as an adjectival verb. Going to the dead
empiror's room would not necessarily imply that he died there.
What a mess.
I think we need to just use two sentences here.
charghwI'
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