tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jul 14 20:28:11 1997

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Re: -nuq



[email protected] on behalf of William  Cody wrote:
> To say "What do you want?", would it be <nuq DaneH'a'?> or <DaneK'a' nuq?>?
> Also, would "Is my bus coming?" be <ghoS lupwI'wIj'a'?>?  Qapla!!

nuqneH
Whaddya want?  (Used as greeting.)

nuq DaneH?
What do you want?  (What thing is it that you want?)

mughoSlI''a' lupwI'wIj?
My bus approaches me.  (Since it's your bus, this sentence assumes, with 
{-lI'}, that it's going to stop at you.)

chollI''a' lupwI'wIj?
Is my bus getting closer?  (Same note.)

Just saying {ghoS'a' lupwI'wIj} (note that the Type 9 verb suffix {-'a'} 
"interrogative" goes on the verb, not the noun) is too vauge.  It might mean 
"My bus is going away," or "My bus is following its route," instead of "My bus 
is getting closer."  If you had some context to work with, you could get away 
with this vagueness, but you don't.

-- 
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97536.3


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