tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Jul 05 21:29:48 1996
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Re: Criticism
In a message dated 96-07-05 21:33:39 EDT, you write:
> > ><poH cha'DIch>? <jIjatlhqa'> bIjatlh 'e' DaHechlaw'.
> ^^
> << <jIjatlhqa'> Dajatlh 'e' DaHechlaw'>> 'e' DaHech,
> qar'a'? ^^
ghobe'. Because using {jatlh} means simply sticking two sentences together,
one the sentence of saying, and the other the actual quote, I don't think
that the quote is the object of the verb of saying. To put it another way,
in TKD p.67, we find:
qaja'pu' HIqaghQo'
and
HIqaghQo' qaja'pu'.
The subject of {ja'} is always "I" and the object is always "you."
{HIqaghQo'} is neither subject nor object. The translation is "I told you,
'Don't interrupt me!'"
Because Okrand says this rule is in effect for all verbs of saying
(including, as he points out, "say"), I assume it must work for {jatlh}.
Therefore, I know of two ways in which {jatlh} has been used:
tlhIngan Hol DajatlhlaH'a'?
and
jatlh qama' jI'oj. Or, more accurately,
jatlh qama', <jI'oj>. That comma is representitive of Okrand's pause when
saying this.
In the second case, I claim that the object of {jatlh} is not <jI'oj>, but is
the null-object. It's analogous to the English: "The prisoner spoke, 'I am
thirsty.'" There's that comma again.
Here's another example:
lutlhob, <naDevvo' vaS'a'Daq majaHlaH'a'?> "They ask him, 'Can we get to the
Great Hall from here?'"
*They* ask *him*. And then the quote.
I'm fairly certain that words of saying do work in this way, but I'm not
certain in what other ways they may or may not work. For example, one of the
translations for {jatlh} is "say." Does this mean that {jatlh} can now take
a quotation as its object? Or does it mean that you can use it with an
"indirect" quote: {jIQongnIS 'e' jatlh SoSwI'} "My mother said that I need to
go to sleep." You'd know it was not a direct quote because of the {'e'}.
There are lots of other problems with words of saying, and they are the
problem I like considering the most. Anyone want to add clarification of
these words to the wish list at the qep'a'?
vaj <{jIjatlhqa'} bIjatlh 'e' DaHech> jIjatlh 'e' vIHechbej.
SuStel
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