tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Aug 12 15:37:18 1998

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Usage of 'e' and stuff like that there

After I wrote /maS vIbejDI', jIDoghchoH. 'e' vIjatlhpu''a'?/, this
happened...

>I meant to say something along the lines of,
> "Haven't I already said that?" or "Didn't I say that before?" which is

> why I used /-pu'/. Maybe it's a case of my mixing up tense with > >
aspect again. I have been into Latin again a bit lately. Amavi,
> amavisti, ama- *smack!* This is a *Klingon* list, Syd! Pay attention!

Qov said:
The problem here was not with using aspect but with a little picky
rule that Okrand himself neglects: it's forbidden to use an aspect
suffix on the verb whose object is /'e'/.  I think it's in section
6.2.5.

Okay, I couldn't find that, but I'll take your word for it (you *are*
Qov, after all! ;D). I wanna know if I can say what I'd intended to say
(which was really just a convention of my English speech I thought would
work). Can I say, "I've said that," as a separate sentence, with /'e'/
used as a pronoun and meaning the sentence immediately before it? I was
just thinking I should use /net/, except then I realised that's for "one
[says] that" or what have you. I want to use it with "I". If it's not
possible/legal, then I wanna know so's I don't do it anymore. It's one
of those little slang-type things that I use around the house sometimes
(I'm sure there are lots and lots of other ones y'all would love to rip
into, too! ;) ) that I know what they mean, and since nobody else for
miles actually understands Klingon except the bits I explain to them,
the subject of possible grammar errors obviously never comes up. (What a
convoluted sentence! Syd, go back to studying *English* grammar! Oy!)

So that's what I wanna know. :) Can y'all help me out?

--
Lt. Cdr. Sarah Barrows, Starfleet
------
Human jIH 'ach tlhIngan tIq rur tIqwIj!
<I may be human, but I've a Klingon heart!>

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