tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Jul 26 12:50:31 1997
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Re: KLBC: using pronouns as "to be"
- From: "David Trimboli" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: KLBC: using pronouns as "to be"
- Date: Sat, 26 Jul 97 19:22:00 UT
[email protected] on behalf of [email protected] wrote:
> I have no difficulty in understanding that "full" pronouns are the
> thlingan-Hol equivalent of
> the English (indo-european) verb "to be". e.g.,
> {jIDoy'} I'm tired, {jIDoy'be'} I'm not tired (verbal sentence)
> {tlhIngan jIH} i'm a Klingon, but what about {tlhIngan jIHbe'}, I'm not a
> Klingon,
> which seems correct?
Yes, this is correct.
> To what amount pronouns used this way can be considered verbs?
Pronouns may be used as verbs, sometimes. Pronouns may be used as nouns,
sometimes. Pronouns are pretty tricky, and you've got to look at some
examples to see how they tend to work.
> For example,
> {tlhIngan jIHbej} means "I'm certainly a Klingon"?
It does work, but I always try to keep as few suffixes on the pronoun as
possible. They DON'T mean "to be," and shouldn't be forced into that role.
{tlhInganna' jIH} would be sufficient. {-na'} indicates that when talking
about me {jIH}, {tlhIngan} is exactly the right word to choose.
> Or evene worse,
> {tlhinganqoq
> jIHbejbe'} "I'm certainly not a fake Klingon"? (more doubt about this
one...)
Ick. First off, {-bejbe'} is pretty funny. "Not definitely." Sounds like
{-law'} to me, why not use it? But what you really tried to say was {-be'bej}
"definitely is not . . ."
*sigh* If there were some really important reason, I suppose you could say
{tlhInganqoq jIHbe'bej}, but I really doubt Klingons would ever bother with
this sort of writhing. Just say {tlhInganna' jIH}.
> In simpler words, do pronouns used as "to be something" obey the same rules
> as ordinary verbs? If yes, {jIHwI'be'} could mean - but this is purely
> stylistic -
> "a thing that is not me". Or maybe {jIHbe'wI'}?
No! Definitely not! Don't even bother trying to use {-wI'} on pronouns. It
just doesn't work.
--
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97568.3