tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Mar 13 21:39:17 1996

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing



[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]

Re: asking



ter'eS writes:
>I still have this nagging feeling that Okrand really does intend for {tlhob}
>to mean "asking for (an action to be performed)" and some other word
>(maybe {yu'} to mean "asking (about the truth of something)".

I don't see this at all.  One doesn't "ask for an action to be performed."
If I "ask" {tlhob} something, I expect an *answer*, not an *action*.  If I
want something to happen, I either order the action directly, or I just say
that I want it to happen.  I might {ra'}, {chup} or {poQ}, or I might {neH}
or say {qaSnIS}.

One might ask "will you perform it?" and get a {HIja'/ghobe'} answer.
One might *order* "you will perform it" and get a {lu'/Qo'} response.
One might *suggest* "you will perform it" and get a {lu'/Qo'} response.
One might ask a question *in order for* an action to be performed, but
the question receives merely an answer.

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




Back to archive top level