tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Dec 09 05:29:25 1996
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KLBC: aspect and things
> > > > rIntaH.
> > >
> > > What is finished?
> >
> > *Hamlet* vIje' rIntaH.
> > I have purchased "Hamlet". (As on TKD p.41.)
> > "It remains accomplished... it is done, and it cannot be undone."
> >
> > OK, so it didn't make much sense following on from the "<credit-card>
> > DaghajnIS" bit. Maybe I should have put it after the bit about going to
> > the KLI page with someone's credit card SHARPISH!! Would it have made
> > sense then?
>
> You've used it correctly now. {rIntaH} is just a more obvious and forceful
> way to say {-ta'}, and must come after the verb you're saying is completed and
> undo-able. It cannot stand on its own as a grammatical marker, although it is
> a verb in its own right. As a verb, it functions very differently than it
> does as an aspect marker.
I'm still not sure I understand this. Doesn't "rIntaH" just mean "it is
accomplished", or something similar? So if I do something, can't I just
report, "rIntaH", to say that I have accomplished it?
> > > > SoS *credit card* vIlo'ta'. chaw'.
> > > > I used my mother's credit card. She permitted it.
> > >
> > > Is there a reason you used {-ta'} on {lo'}? Your translation doesn't shed
> any
> > > light on this.
> >
> > TKD p.41: "This suffix is used when an activity was deliberately
> > undertaken, the implication being that someone set out to do something and
> > in fact did it."
> >
> > Well, I set out to order "Hamlet" from the KLI's website, and in fact did
> > it. Isn't that right? OK, I suppose it wasn't necessary, but was it
> > actually incorrect?
>
> What I mean is, why did you use an aspect marker at all? Somehow, it made
> more sense to me without it. {SoSwI' *credit card* vIlo'. chaw'.} "I used
> my mother's credit card. She permitted it." WITH the suffix, it means "I had
> used my mother's credit card. She permitted it."
>
> Still, what you said was not wrong. I'm just not sure it jibes with the rest
> of the message.
But if I just said <vIlo'>, that could have meant that I'm doing it, or am
going to do it, couldn't it? How do you think I should have said it, to
get across the idea that the transaction has been completed (or even
accomplished)?
> SuStel
> Beginners' Grammarian
> Stardate 96928.1
'olIva'
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| Oliver PEREIRA | [email protected] ***VIVU ESPERANTO!*** |
| Selwyn College, | See the Cambridge Esperanto Group's web page at |
| Cambridge | http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/etg10/keg.html |
| CB3 9DQ | It's really good! (Because I didn't write it.) |
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