tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Mar 05 20:29:48 1997
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: qechmeywIj law'qu' vIlab
>Date: Sun, 2 Mar 1997 22:28:49 -0800
>From: "David Trimboli" <[email protected]>
>
>jatlh taD:
>
>> 2) <bIH> vs. <chaH>
>> <bIH> refers to they, when "they" are non-speakers. <chaH> refers to
>> they, when "they" are capable of speaking. But what is used when "they"
>> refers to both speakers & non-speakers?
>
>This is a question we've encountered before. There is no answer yet.
My personal favored answer, which happens to be grammatically conservative
but that's not why I like it, is that bIH and chaH (and similarly 'oH and
ghaH) are simply immiscible. There just IS NO one pronoun that can refer
to both. You simply have to say something like "juHDaq qetpu' HoD. meQ
ghaH 'oH je." "The captain had run into the house. He and it burned."
That's how I'd like to see it work, anyway. There's no reason that either
one has to be able to "win."
~mark