tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jul 29 20:14:08 1996

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Re: Klingon "was"

taDI'oS vIq writes:
>Could you then say, <pa'vamDaq jIHpu'> while standing in the room,
>meaning "I am still here in the room, but my purpose here is done."

If your having been in the room was intentional, consider {...jIHta'}.
I'm not sure I'd understand any purpose other than actually being in
the room, though.  I also don't think {-pu'} or {-ta'} say anything
about whether or not one is still there at the present time.

>And possibly imply that one's departure is imminent?

I wouldn't infer an imminent departure from this sentence, no.  Maybe
if you said {...jIHlI'}?  That certainly implies that the "being in"
will come to an end at some point.

>Come to think of it, can you
>put a verb suffix like -pu' on a pronoun like jIH?

TKD 6.3 gives examples of pronouns used to mean "to be".  We are told
that the pronoun can take verbal suffixes as appropriate.  The examples
of "to be at a place" have the suffix {-taH}, which is a type 7 verb
suffix like {-pu'}.

-- ghunchu'wI'               batlh Suvchugh vaj batlh SovchoH vaj

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