tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Apr 29 08:37:22 1996
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: Politeness and <-jaj>
- From: "William H. Martin" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: Politeness and <-jaj>
- Date: Mon, 29 Apr 1996 11:36:37 -0400 (EDT)
- In-Reply-To: <[email protected]> from "Douglas A. McLeod" at Apr 29, 96 07:41:01 am
According to Douglas A. McLeod:
>
> Is it stretching the sense of the suffix <-jaj> too far to use it to
> express politeness?
>
> A: puchpa'Daq jIjaHlaH'a'?
This sounds like a question of ability, like something a
wounded warrior might ask a nurse, similar in nature to "Will I
ever be able to play the violin again?"
> A: puchpa'Daq jIjaHjaj'a'?
jIHaghqu'taH! I imagine this as a toast one would give just
before open-throated straight-gutting a half gallon pitcher of
any liquid with a reputation for quickly flowing through the
kidneys into the bladder. Lose the {-'a'?}, though. I don't
think {-jaj} and {-'a'} belong on the same verb. A toast or a
curse are strong statements, not questions. I can't think of
any context for combining these two ideas.
> B: mI' wa''a'?
Cute, but I don't think that verbal suffix belongs on a
number... It looks like, "The big number one", but even then
only Type 5 suffixes migrate to adjectival verbs and perhaps to
trailing numbers.
> A: mI' cha'.
> B: yIghoS.
wejpuH.
I prefer the exchange:
A: nuqDaq 'oH pujpa''e'?
B: nuq 'oH mu' le''e'?
A: DaH!
B: vaS poSDaq lojmIt cha'DIch 'oH.
[Pardon the expansion of the use of {vaS} for humorous
purposes...]
> Douglas M.
charghwI'
--
reH lugh charghwI' net Sov.