tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Dec 02 21:12:49 1996
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Re: RE: Embedded wh-questions
- From: "William H. Martin" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: RE: Embedded wh-questions
- Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 00:11:10 -0500 ()
- Priority: NORMAL
On Mon, 2 Dec 1996 17:05:08 -0800 d'Armond Speers
<[email protected]> wrote:
> On Monday, December 02, 1996 6:37 PM, David Trimboli[SMTP:[email protected]]
> wrote:
...
> > Of course, I'd just say {'Iv qIp yaS? yIngu'!}
>
> This assumes that the person you're addressing *knows* who the officer is,
> and you want him to tell you. What if you're asking an opinion? Who do
> you think it was? I suspect charghwI' would suggest /'Iv qIp yaS? vuDlIj
> HInob/ or something like that.
Close. That would do, though what I came up with was a mix of
the two.
> What do you want to eat? Somehow /nuq
> DaSop DaneH/ doesn't feel quite right, though that's what I've been saying.
Actually, this feels exactly right to me. I'd be hard pressed to
express it any other way. This is a question, not a reference to
a noun described by a relative clause. You are asking for an
answer, which is what questions do. In "I wonder who likes
Mary," there is no request for an answer. There is no question.
There is only a reference to a noun described by a relative
clause. See? In "Who do you think the officer hit?" there is a
question, I suppose, though it feels like the "which" question
word and I want to convert it into a command.
Similarly, if you open the refrigerator and ask, "What do you
want to eat?", I would want to convert THAT into a command,
since you are demanding that I choose, rather than just asking
without bounds on my choices.
> > --
> > SuStel
> > Beginners' Grammarian
> > Stardate 96922.5
>
> --Holtej
> Stardate 96922.75
charghwI'