tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Nov 04 11:58:16 1997
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Question as object
- From: "Andeen, Eric" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Question as object
- Date: Tue, 4 Nov 1997 13:06:47 -0700
I have to agree with charghwI' on the question as object thing: it
doesn't work.
In the standard construction, a statement is made, and the verb of the
second sentence acts on that statement. The statement is essentially
acting like a noun; it is a piece of information. The statement requires
no alteration in meaning to act as a noun; it comes quite naturally. A
verb can act on a piece of information just like it can act on a piece
of wood. <yaS vIqIp 'e' DaSov> "You know I hit the officer". I hit the
officer is a statement, and it does not become anything else when I add
<'e' DaSov>.
A question in Klingon is a request for information. I know of no
evidence that Klingon uses questions for anything else. I have used
rhetorical questions in my own writing (not, mind you, in a question as
object), but I have never seen them in canon.
How does this request for information behave when acting as a noun? It
cannot still be requesting information from the listener; the sentence
is no longer a question (or if it is, it is a different question). So
does a question act like its own answer? I simply cannot accept that. We
know from the standard 'e' construction that the statement that is the
object DOES NOT CHANGE. It is still the same statement. It does not turn
into a related but different piece of information.
So the only way a question as object makes sense is if it is still a
request for information. Can you know (actually, <Sov>) a request? Not
the answer, but the request itself. I'm comfortable using <Sov> with
statements and ideas and intellectual things, like languages. I might
also use with people, but that is probably an Englishism. I would NOT
use it with requests for information, or rocks. <nagh vISov> "I know the
rock". Maybe in Zen. So <'Iv vIqIp 'e' DaSov> makes no sense. "You know
that who did I hit?". However, perhaps this makes sense: <"qatlh SuD
chal 'e' vIjanglaHbe'> "I cannot answer why is the sky blue?". A
question can certainly be answered; that is its purpose (well, the
purpose of this question is to annoy adults, but I'll move on). Even
this seems a bit awkward, however. I suspect a question could also be
asked, ignored, cared about, etc.
mub'a' qechvam pagh Hat'a' qechvam? 'e' vISaHbe'. vIlo'Qo'.
pagh