tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Nov 14 12:20:39 1995
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Reduplication & idioms (was DujHom chu' vIje'nIS)
- From: Adam Walker <[email protected]>
- Subject: Reduplication & idioms (was DujHom chu' vIje'nIS)
- Date: Tue, 14 Nov 95 14:18:03 -0600
- Organization: Dallas Baptist University
Mark Shoulson wrote
>
> >Alan Anderson wrote 95-11-04 23:12:22 EST
>
> >vaj vIngevDI' vItI'chugh Huch vIlajbogh law' law' vItI'be'mo'
Huch vIlajbogh > >law' puS.
>
> >I have a feeling that Klingon avoids redundant syllables. For example, they
> >probably do not say {qu'qu'} for "very fierce" nor {taHtaH} for "it continues
> >to exist." I have even begun to make sure that I put something between {vaj}
> >and {vaj} for "....the warrior, ... then....." In the above sentence {law'
> >law'} just doesn't feel right to me.
>
> I don't think I agree. There really isn't much evidence that Klingon
> avoids repetitive syllables (they're not redundant; each is necessary). In
> English, we quite happily attach "-ing" to "sing" and get "singing" and
> don't care that the syllable is almost repeated. Particularly something
> like law'/puS which obviously derived from the verb "law'"; why should it
> not be used in conjunction with it? We also have canon evidence that
> "vIlI'lI'" is proper Klingon (p.42); isn't that repetitive?
>
> ~mark
>
I had been wondering about reduplication in tlhingan Hol as well.
How much evidence if any is there that this strategy is used in
tlhingan Hol. Some languages make abundant use of it (eg.
Indonesian) others don't. English uses this strategy some especially
with adverbs (very, very really, really) and words like hokey-pokey
or boogie woogie.
Another feature I haven't come across yet (I'm still a novice, though
so maby I just haven't seen it) is idoms. All human languages have
them. In some languages like English and Chinese a large portion of
communication takes place in the currency of idom. (ibid.) In other
languages like Indonesian they are few and far between with most
ideas expressed in a straightforward manner. I feel that tlhingan
must fit in the second category, but does anyone know if there are
any tlhingan idioms?
Qapla'
Qogh.