tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Dec 21 20:03:14 1996
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bav (was Re: jaH)
- From: [email protected] (Alan Anderson)
- Subject: bav (was Re: jaH)
- Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 23:03:43 -0500
paSmo' jabbI'IDvam jItlhIj.
Regarding the transitivity of "orbit", I had written:
>I think there *is* a difference. One definition is "move around a center
>of attraction" -- the intransitive definition. Another is "move around
>(a center of attraction)" -- the transitive one. If the concept of the
>center of attraction is included in the definition, it should not be used
>as the verb's direct object. If there were a verb {Soj} "eat food", it
>could not be used transitively in the same way as {Sop} "eat". We still
>don't have any real evidence of whether {bav} *can* have an object.
~mark replied:
>Huh??
>
>"Sop" means "eat (something)" when used transitively, and "eat something"
>when used intransitively, by your notation. Okrand says so. It's just
>using the transitive verb with an ellipsized object. There IS some food
>implied in "maSop", we just aren't being particular about it; it's suff in
>general or it's not important to the sentence.. So too, with "bav". There
>IS always a center of attraction involved, the question is whether or not
>we're bothering to say it. I don't see how these are different.
The difference is whether or not there is an object *included* in the
definition of the word instead of one just being *implied*. We have
{woQ} and {Qom} as examples of intransitive verbs that translate into
English as transitive verbs plus an object. It's possible that {bav}
is similar; I have no trouble imagining it as exclusively intransitive.
>>There's another transitive meaning of "orbit", by the way -- "put into an
>>orbit" -- but I think that would be a less productive interpretation.
>
>I don't think I've ever heard "NASA orbitted a sattelite this morning",
>have you?
Not exactly *those* words, no. But I have indeed seen references to the
late 1950's when "...Russia orbited Sputnik..." and thought it was funny
that a country could go around a satellite. :-)
-- ghunchu'wI'