tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jul 28 15:41:57 1997

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Re: cheghta' muHwI' !



ghItlh SuStel:

>What's the negative of an indefinite subject?

If, as TDK p. 39 says, the verb tu'lu' = someone/something finds..., then 
tu'lu'be' = no one/nothing finds...

And tu'be'lu' = someone/something doesn't find.... (perhaps more aptly seen as 
One doesn't find...???)

>tu'be'lu'
>{-be'} is negating {tu'}
>
>tu'lu'be'
>{-be'} is negating {tu'lu'} -- the whole thing.
>
>I can think of no good reason that {-lu'} itself should ever need to be 
>negated. {-lu'} is often translated "someone," but it's not a specific 
>someone. That's {vay'}, the negation of which is {pagh}.

Agreed. But that's not what I meant. Your analysis above matches mine - I 
think you see the same thing I do, just perhaps in a different way.

>{QuvlIjDaq yIH tu'be'lu'jaj} "May someone not find tribbles at your 
>coordinates." This doesn't mean that someone else should, it is a wish that 
>any subject, the general subject, not find tribbles there.

Agreed still. I merely wanted to say this:

tu'be'lu' = There are no..., in the sense that an observer in normal 
activities or in a casual survey of the area won't turn up any Object.

tu'lu'be' = There are no..., in the sense that an observer will not find the 
Object - it is not able to be found.

Again, I think we agree!

Qermaq




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