tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Dec 02 19:32:45 1996

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Ship in which I fled, was Re: RE: KLBC: Road



On Mon, 2 Dec 1996 18:00:54 -0800 HurghwI' <[email protected]> 
wrote:

> jatlh SuStel:
> >Actually, that's "room which fighters travel."  I don't think that really 
> >works.  It doesn't mean "Room in which fighters travel," and this is what you 
> >want.  And here we have . . . "the ship in which I fled" problem!  (See the 
> >FAQ).
> 
> Can you explain what's illegal in this? I was just thinking . . .
> 
> Duj'e' vIlo'bogh jIHaw'meH.
> The ship which I used in order to flee.

First, you should realize that a verb with {-meH} PRECEDES the 
noun or verb it modifies. So, if you put it first, you get:

jIHaw'meH Duj'e' vIlo'bogh

As a sentence fragment, here you don't need {-'e'} at all, since 
the only noun available to be head noun of the relative clause 
is {Duj}, so it can become:

jIHaw'meH Duj vIlo'bogh

Let's see it in context:

jatlh nuv wa': chay' bInargh?

jatlh nuv cha' (pointing out the window): jIHaw'meH Duj 
vIlo'bogh 'oH Dujvetlh'e'.

It looks like a successful recasting of this specific example, 
though it does not offer a formula for the problem this classic 
(created by ~mark) example points toward. Okrand has explicitly 
stated in an interview in HolQeD that head nouns of relative 
clauses need to be subject or object of both the relative 
clause's verb and of the sentence's main verb. They can't be 
locatives.

Think about it. If the head noun were a locative for the 
relative clause's verb, that noun is still a locative for the 
main verb. If it is locative for the main verb, it must also 
be locative for the relative clause as well. The relative clause 
modifies the noun, but the locative suffix changes the nature of 
that noun and its function in a sentence, giving it an adverbial 
function. That's what most Type 5 suffixes do. You can't have a 
relative adverbial phrase. It's just too weird.

> It seems the whole thing could be solved if Okrand made 'e' some other
> suffix type!

Not at all. Relative clauses and locatives are fundamentally 
incompatible in Klingon grammar. One is adjectival in nature, 
while the other is adverbial. Is this helping?
 
> -HurghwI'
> Hovjaj 96922.8

charghwI'




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