tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jun 16 21:20:50 1997
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RE: KLBC: nominal sentences
- From: "David Trimboli" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: KLBC: nominal sentences
- Date: Tue, 17 Jun 97 04:17:17 UT
[email protected] on behalf of [email protected] wrote:
> Up to now I didn't realize that the following two facts, when put together,
> had some dramatic :-) consequences:
> (1) many (if not most) Klingon words may be used as verbs or nouns,
differing
> only in the affixes they accept and their position in the sentence ;
Unless some new evidence comes to light, it's not "most," it's "some." But
this is nothing unusual; English does this a lot more than Klingon does. I
can "run," or I can "go for a run." I can "joke," or I can "tell a joke."
Etc.
> (2) {'a'} is the augmentative suffix for nouns, the interrogative suffix for
> verbs.
But these facts are not related.
> Hence there can be *no* nominal sentences (i.e. without verb) in tlhingan
Hol
> !
> e.g. : {Qagh} "he makes a mistake" or "it is a mistake" (if nominal
sentences
> were allowed).
> {Qagh'a'} "is he making a mistake ?" or "it is a big mistake" (if nominal,
> etc)
There is no provision in regular Klingon to suggest that one may construct a
sentence consisting of only a noun. You can have a noun and a pronoun, but
not just a noun. Of course, I could point to something, say {Qagh}, and mean
have just used a Clipped Klingon sentence.
> Of course, I choosed this example because {Qagh} is both verb and noun,
> and also because all the above probably apply to me...
>
> Since TKD does not mention nominal sentences, I must say :
> {Qagh} "he makes a mistake"
> {Qagh 'oH} "it is a mistake"
> {Qagh'a'} "is he making a mistake ?"
> {Qagh'a' 'oH} "it is a big mistake"
>
> It expect a sharp answer from BG.
Do you mean "sharp" as in "intelligent," "witty," or "nasty"? :-o
> This should only cause problems in
> Clipped Klingon, where context dictates meaning.
But by what you just said, because you HAVE context, you eliminate the
problem! And those four sentences are NOT clipped.
> {qar'a' ?}
>
> (a propos: where should I put the interrogative {'a'} when a pronoun is used
> in the sense of "to be" ? {Qagh'a' 'oH} or {Qagh 'oH'a'} ? the 2nd seems
more
> appropriate according to TKD 6.3, e.g. {jIHtah} with {-taH} appended to the
> pronoun).
Right. Pronouns in "to be" constructions act a little like verbs in that they
may take suffixes, if the suffixes are needed. I'd go easy on them, though.
I've seen suffixes with four or five suffixes in them, and the effect was not
pleasant.
The correct sentence would be {Qagh 'oH'a'}.
--
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97459.8