tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Sep 23 12:07:58 1997
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Re: KLBC: Verbs as Adverbs
- From: "Robyn Stewart" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: KLBC: Verbs as Adverbs
- Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 12:08:13 PST
- Organization: NLK Consultants, Inc.
- Priority: normal
lab Dawut:
>*jatmey*vaD lutmey vIglhItlh 'e' vIqeq.
lut Daqon. You're referring to the process of composing the story,
not of marking it down. {ghItlh} refers to the physical act of
making marks, not to the mental act of composing that we call
"writing" in English. Use {qon} for that meaning.
>Qup tlhInganvetlh == That Klingon is young.
>subject == tlhInganvetlh "that Klingon" { tlhIngan+vetlh (N4) }
>verb == Qup "be young"
>object == none
bIpojchu'pu'. pup.
>jIH qIp tlhInganvetlh == That Klingon hit me.
>subject == tlhInganvetlh "that Klingon" { tlhIngan+vetlh (N4) }
>verb == qIp "hit"
>object == jIH "me"
Reread pages 32-34 and then the part at the beginning of chapter six
where the pronouns are introduced. The pronoun here is optional, and
not recommended unless you want to emphasize that it was you (not
someone else) that got hit. The prefix indicating that the first
person singular was the object of an action by the third person
singular is NOT optional here. {muqIp} - he hit me. The prefix is
required whether or not pronouns are present.
>jIH qIp tlhInganvetlh Qup == That young Klingon hit me.
Word order is fine, but get rid of {jIH} and add {mu-} as above.
>subject == tlhInganvetlh Qup "that young Klingon" { tlhIngan+vetlh
>(N4) / Qup (adv) } verb == qIp "hit" object == jIH "me"
>tlhIgnanvetlh qan HoHta' tlhInganvam Qup. <?>
>This young Klingon killed that old Klingon. <?>
Ignoring the typo on {tlhIngan}, this works, note that this indicates
that as of the time the sentence is set, the action of killing was
already complete, and deliberate. So if you say, {jIpawDI'
tlhInganvetlh qan HoHta' tlhInganvam Qup}, that means you *didn't*
see the killing. The body might have been lying on the floor when
you arrived, or already disposed of, but when you arrived, the
killing was complete. This is a very nice example for yet another
Qov rant about aspect.
{jIpawDI' HoHlI'} "When I arrived he was killing him." (in the
clear process of killing him)
{jIpawDI' HoHtaH} "When I arrived he was killing him." (but it's not
really clear whether he was actually going to continue through with
the killing.)
(jIpawDI' HoH} "When I arrived he killed him" (You walked in and he
killed him. You did see this killing and it doesn't sound like it
had started before you got there.) This could also be "When I arrive
he will kill him" or "As I arrive, he kills him." The other
sentences could also refer to future or present tence, too, of
course.
- Qov