tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun May 18 18:50:33 1997
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RE: KLBC: SajmeywIj
- From: "David Trimboli" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: KLBC: SajmeywIj
- Date: Mon, 19 May 97 00:31:36 UT
[email protected] on behalf of Don or Carey or Rich wrote:
> wej Sajmey vIghaj. *lengwI'Hom, *SuvwI'Hom, *nuchoy je vIpongpu'.
>
> I have three pets (they're cats). I named them "Little Traveler", "Little
> Warrior", and "Dear Coward". I hope my use of <je> with nouns is correct.
Yes, it is.
> juHwIj Sech Sovbe'bogh Saj'e'. Sovbe'wI' buQ *lengwI'Hom.
>
> A stranger pet (also a cat) visits my house (and hangs around outside).
> "Little Traveler" threatens the stranger. I wasn't sure if there was a
> standard word for the noun "stranger", so I used "one-which-is-not-known",
> though I suppose this could have other interpretations.
What is {Sech}? Did you mean {Such}?
For "pet which is not known," you have to consider: *who* doesn't know the
pet? Does it matter? It could be anybody. This is the indefinite subject,
expressed with {-lu'} (TKD 4.2.5).
juHwIj Such Saj Sovbe'lu'bogh
A pet which is not known visited my home.
If you don't like using {Sov} like this (I can see the problem, though I don't
think it's too bad), you can choose other verbs. How about {ghov} or {legh}?
You may need to change the structure of the sentence for different verbs, but
the recasting should not be difficult.
> vaj *lengwI'HomvaD *avwI'Hom'e' vIpong.
>
> Thus, I call "Little Traveler" "Little Guard". I put <'e'> here to
> emphasize the new name. Since this is a change in the naming of my cat,
> would <vIpongbogh> be appropriate? I hope <pong> isn't too difficult a verb
> for me to start out with. Did I express the direct and indirect objects
> correctly? This _seemed_ like an easy story to tell!
Actually, {pong} is really tough to use at first (it was harder before Okrand
gave us an example), and you've gotten it right. Adding {'e'} is quite right.
You don't need it to satisfy any grammatical requirement, you are just
emphasizing it. And if you want to express the fact that you *begin* to call
"Little Traveler" by this new name, the suffix is {-choH}. {vIpongchoH}.
--
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97379.9