tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Jun 21 23:02:26 1997
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RE: KLBC: "... or is he a snugiraffe"
- From: "David Trimboli" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: KLBC: "... or is he a snugiraffe"
- Date: Sat, 21 Jun 97 22:40:19 UT
Eskil Heyn Olsen wrote:
> I was asked to translate a sentence akin to "He is as klingon spy living
> in Denmark, or is he an emissary ?"
>
> I broke it down to "In denmark a klingon spy lives" used as object to
> "ghaH".
You cannot do this. {ghaH} is a pronoun, not a verb with an object. What you
are trying to do is a relative clause.
*Denmark*Daq yIntaHbogh tlhIngan ghoqwI' ghaH'a'?
Is he a Klingon spy who lives in Denmark?
The other sentence you know.
Duy ghaH'a'
Is he an emissary?
Now, I don't know if two questions would be joined by a sentence conjunction.
It's possible, but it also makes sense without it.
*DenmarkDaq yIntaHbogh tlhIngan ghoqwI' ghaH'a'? Duy ghaH'a'?
Or, you could combine the two things he might be:
*DenmarkDaq yIntaHbogh tlhIngan ghoqwI', Duy ghap ghaH'a'?
Is he either a Klingon spy living in Denmark or an emissary?
This question is asking if he is either one or the other, but is not directly
asking which one you think he is.
> Or should it be written as
>
> *Danmark*Daq bIyIntaH 'ej tlhIngan wo'ghoqwI' ghaH qoj Duq ghaH'a'
Why {bI-}? For "he," there is no prefix used.
If you're going to use the interrogative suffix on the second {ghaH}, you've
got to use it on the first one, too.
--
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97472.8