tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Jan 11 15:16:00 1997

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RE: Buy me a drink



January 10, 1997 8:19 PM EST, jatlh r'Hul:

> >> chuchmo' juHDaq vIratlh.
> ><jIratlh> :)
> 
> Boy am I rusty.  I wasn't sure which prefix to use.  I was thinking that <at 

> home> was the object of <I remain>.  So, if the object is a 'there', or any 
> other pronoun that is not expressly stated, you'd use the 'no object' 
prefix.

No, if a pronoun is not expressly stated, it may be given through the prefix.  
{juHDaq qaSuch}  "I visit you at home."  If there is a location at which the 
rest of the sentence takes place, the noun which refers to the location gets 
the location suffix {-Daq} and is stuck before the object noun, if any.  Nouns 
with {-vo'}, {-Daq}, {-mo'}, and {-vaD} are not part of the Obj-Verb-Subj 
structure.

> >ratlhchugh chuch 'ej bIratlhnISchugh, vaj bIqeqlaHchu'. tugh 
bIjatlhqa'chu'!
> 
> jIqeqnISba'. {{;-)  DaHjaj jIvumqa' 'e' Do'Ha' (That felt wrong.  I could of 

> sworn there was another way to use verbs adverbialy.)

Your feelings have the right idea.  What you have here is the mysterious "it." 
 What is "it" that is unfortunate?  The "it" in "it is unfortunate that . . ." 
is really referring to the previous sentence!  But that would be 
sentence-as-subject, and we can't have that.

Fortunately (heh), the word {Do'Ha'} is also a legitimate adverb.  You can 
just say {DaHjaj Do'Ha' jIvumqa'}.

> >> 'ej jIHmey vISay'Qo'. {{;-D
> >
> >ben SID QorghmeH qachvaD "jIH"mey vISay'moHpu'. Dalchu' Qu'! yInIDQo'!
> 
> Well I was going to do a cute line about "Cleaning veiwscreens is no test of
> a warrior's mettle," but pg. 104 of TKW has me even more perplexed.

tlhaQqu'!!!!

Ah, yes, the Star Trek V backfit.  Surely, you remember it:

vaj toDDujDaj ngeHbej DIvI'
That means the Federation will send its own rescue ship.

vaj toDuj Daj ngeHbej DI vI'
Shooting space garbage is no test of a warrior's mettle.

I mean, it's no wonder lots of people have trouble with this sentence!

Subject: {ngeHbej DI vI'} "cosmos rubble marksmanship."  Ugh, but there it is.
Object: {vaj toDuj} "warrior's courage."  Oh, is THAT where the word {vaj} = 
"warrior" comes from?  :)
Verb: {Daj} "test inconclusively."

vaj toDuj Daj ngeHbej DI vI'
Cosmos rubble marksmanship inconclusively tests a warrior's courage.
Shooting space garbage is no test of a warrior's mettle.

And, of course,

vaj toDuj Daj jIH Say'moHghach.
Cleaning viewscreens is no test of a warrior's mettle.

-- 
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97031.6


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