tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Jun 21 15:29:17 1997

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RE: KLBC: proper use of {je}



[email protected] on behalf of [email protected] wrote:

> TKD 5.3. tells us "conjunctions joining nouns come after the final noun" and
> gives the example {DeS 'uS je} "an arm and a leg".
> This is fine when only two nouns are involved; but what if there are three 
or
> more?

TKD merely says "after the final noun," which suggests to me it comes after a 
series of two or more nouns.  Otherwise, why didn't Okrand write "after the 
second noun"?

Unfortunately, the only canon I can find which uses more than two nouns in a 
conjunction is on the SkyBox copyright notice:

TM, R  c. je

> What about :
> {vav loDnI' be'nal je} (punctuation intentionally omitted) : "father, 
brother
> and wife"
> or "father and sister-in-law"?

Depending on how it's enunciated and on context, {vav loDnI' be'nal je} might 
mean

father, brother, and wife
father's brother and wife
father and brother's wife
father's brother's wife

> I understand from TKD, {je} can only appear at the end of the enumeration ;
> something like {vav loDnI' je be'nal je} is not canon.

No, but I can certainly see a situation where a Klingon says {vav loDnI' je} 
and then realizes he needs to add {be'nal} to that list, and hastily adds 
{be'nal je}.

> should I rely
> on punctuation (not written in pIqaD) -- or, orally, in the scan of the
> sentence?

Each, in the appropriate medium.  Commas are terribly useful while using 
sentence conjunctions.

> BTW (i.e. no relationship to the above), {'u' che'wI'} is a nice Terran
> nickname,
> but not a good Klingon one.

jIQochbe'.

> As a cigarette addict, glottal stops are a pain to me.

toH!  taQ!  *cigarette*mey vIlo'be' vaj ghu'lIj vISovbe'.

> How would you say "borderline" in tlhingan Hol? "(language) borderliner"
> would
> fit me quite well, wouldn'it it? :-)

I'm not quite sure what you mean.  {HeH} is "boundary."  Although it probably 
doesn't mean what you want it to, I think {HolHeH} sounds kinda neat for a 
name . . . (who needs it to mean anything, anyway?)

-- 
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97470.1


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