tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Apr 01 20:38:39 1996

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing



[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]

Re: KLBC "Don't let the bastards get you down"



tIm writes:
>nI'IQmoH taHqeqpu' tIchaw'Qo'

After a lot of agreements and suggestions for different translations of
"get you down", *finally* someone noticed that you need to use {'e'} as
the object of the second verb!  You're not talking about refusing to
permit the people; you're talking about refusing to permit an action.
That action, in the form of a complete sentence, is the object of the
verb {chaw'}, and it is represented by the pronoun {'e'}.  See TKD section
6.2.5 for a discussion of sentences as objects.

{nI[whatever] taHqeqpu' 'e' yIchaw'Qo'}

>HIjangnIS

You can say either {HIjang} or {chojangnIS} to indicate you need a reply,
but {HI-} and {-nIS} don't coexist well.  You've said something close to
"Hey, you -- need to answer me!"  You ordered me to have to do something
instead of either ordering me to do it or telling me I have to do it.

-- ghunchu'wI'               batlh Suvchugh vaj batlh SovchoH vaj




Back to archive top level