tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed May 24 09:07:18 1995
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: je je je
>Date: Wed, 24 May 1995 09:35:54 -0400
>Originator: [email protected]
>From: [email protected]
>I've seen several messages using <je> after each item in a list.
>eg <A B je C je D je>. This seems to contradict TKD 5.3 which states
>"The conjunctions joining nouns come after the final noun." This would make
>the list <A B C D je>. Did I miss some canonical point in an earlier
>message, or an early HolQeD?
Actually, as I understand it, it comes from a lack of certainty as to which
is correct. Interesting; Okrand *does* say "final" and not "second"; I
hadn't realized that. Still, there's room for argument that "A B je C je"
is correct anyway (this was hashed out on the list ages back and most
people felt both were right, with slightly different feelings about
formality).
If you think of it that a conjunction (con)joins nouns into one unit (hence
the name), you can figure that "A B je" is therefore a single "unitary"
noun-phrase. To conjoin that with another noun, C, what do I do? I put
it followed by C followed by "je". This yields "(A B je) C je" or in
ordinary writing without the structure marked, "A B je C je" and so on.
See?
I think people felt that "A B C D je" would also be correct (I don't think
it's wrong), but perhaps less formal or pedantic. Then again; I didn't
notice the use of "final" there before.
>Brad
~mark