tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Mar 13 00:42:47 1996
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: KLBC-double-object verbs
- From: Marc Ruehlaender <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: KLBC-double-object verbs
- Date: Wed, 13 Mar 96 9:43:01 MET
- In-Reply-To: <[email protected]>; from "William H. Martin" at Mar 11, 96 4:56 pm
- Mailer: Elm [revision: 70.85]
>
> Meanwhile, besides looking weird, this particular alternate
> grammatical construction does not work at all when the person
> of the direct and indirect object are the same, as in your
> example, "I give him the book." The disagreement of the verb's
> prefix with its object is the thing that wakes you up to know
> the difference between {jIHvaD paq yInob,} and {paq HInob.}
> Meanwhile, there is no difference between {paq vInob,} and {paq
> vInob,} and if the indirect object is explicit (it is a noun
> instead of just something or someone indicated by the verb's
> prefix), then there is no way to fit that explicit object in
> this shorthand format.
>
> charghwI'
>
gulp! so far I thought, it was possible to look at it
this way: verbs that need several 'objects' (whatever
they may be called) can have each of it as "the" or
the "direct" object in Klingon, that is, as the word
which is referenced by the verb prefix and, if stated
explicitly, precedes the verb immediately. All other
"indirect objects", that is, noun phrases other than
subject or "the" object, have a type 5 noun suffix
(which may be zero, e.g. time stamps) and precede the
object. Thus in
jIHvaD paq yInob
jIH is the "indirect object", paq is "the" object, while in
paq (jIH) HInob
paq is the "indirect object" with an empty type 5 noun suffix
and jIH is "the" object, referenced by HI- and usually left
out, except for emphasis.
In the case of "give" you can always tell, whether the word
before ..nob is the recipient or the gift, by looking at the
type five suffix it has: -vaD -> recipient, -0 or -'e' -> gift
thus ghaHvaD yInob = give it to him = 'oH yInob
what's wrong with that?
HomDoq
--
----------------------------------------------------
Marc Ruehlaender [email protected]
Universitaet des Saarlandes, Saarbruecken, Germany
----------------------------------------------------