tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Nov 27 01:09:41 1997

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Re: -moH (was Re: peDtaH 'ej jIQuch)



At 20:49 97-11-23 -0800, ghunchu'wI' wrote:

}I'm attempting to interpret {-moH} as *not* affecting the transitivity of
}the root verb.  What you call the "object of causality and subject of the
}root verb" is considered the receiver/beneficiary of the causation in my
}interpretation.
}
}{yIQoy} "Hear it."
}{jIHvaD yIQoymoH} "Cause-hear it for me."
}{HIQoymoH} "Cause-hear me." (using an indirect-object prefix)
}
}There's no simple English word that means "cause-hear", so we resort to
}using an infinitive to translate it:  "Cause me to hear."  But I'm viewing
}this as a multiple-step process, first going through a stage with {-vaD},
}and then collapsing the indirect object into the verb prefix.

I started using a similar interpretation of {-moH} when I had to reconcile
the fact that the apparent direct object in a sentence like {XvaD Y
vI<verb>moH} is the thing verbed, not the thing made to verb.  I don't see
it as a radical change in the description of {-moH}, just a consistent ay to
explain its objects.  A theory does not have to be true, just predict what
happens and be consistent with the facts.

Qov     [email protected]
Beginners' Grammarian                 



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