tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Aug 18 15:28:16 1998

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing



[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]

Re: Verbs of Saying



---Terrence Donnelly  wrote:
>
> At 08:29 AM 8/18/98 -0700, Qov wrote:
> >---qe'San - Jon Brown <[email protected]> wrote:
> [pe'..]
> >> After reading the above I couldn't help thinking about {pong (v)}
> >again.
> >> 
> >> It is repeatedly said that we don't know how the verb is used as we
> >> haven't been given any cannon examples. I'm sorry for bringing it
up
> >> again but I thought, why isn't pong considered to be a verb of
saying?
> >> 
> >> If it were treated as such then we do have cannon examples as
referred
> >> to {jatlh} etc.  
> >
> >This is one of the most creative suggestions I've ever seen for
/pong/. 
> >It's also succint, quite clear to read and doesn't actually propose
> >any new grammar.  By making the name a separate utterance -- and a
> >name can definitely be a separate utterance, if only in the vocative
> >(when you are calling someone) -- you sidestep the whole problem of
> >where to put a second object.  
> >
> >This goes along with another suggestion I've seen and understood:
> >
> >/vIponglu'DI' Qov jatlhlu'/
> >
> >> In other words the following sentences might
> >> translate as:
> >> 
> >> I call my pet 'lunch'  -     {SajDaj  vIpong  .  megh}  
> >>                       or  {megh  .  SajDaj  vIpong}
> >> 
> >> The crew call the ship 'garbage scow'  -  
> >> {Duj  lupong  beqpu'  .  veQDuj }  .
> >> 
> >>  Kahless called his new weapon 'the sword of honour'  -
> >> {nuH chu'Daj  pongpu'  qeylIS'e'  .  batlh  'etlh }  .
> >
> >/pongpu'/ implies to me that someone later changed the name.  Just
> >/pong/ for simple past tense.
> >
> >> I am called qe'San (some call me qe'San) - 
> >> {vIponglu'  .  qe'San }  ????.
> >
> >Neat suggestion.  I like it.  I don't think it violates anything. It
> >doesn't mean it's the way Klingons say it, but I think they would be
> >able to understand it.
> 
> But in these cases, /pong/ has an object, and an utterance, and I got
> the implication from the discussion of /jatlh/ that a verb of saying
> could have either an object or an accompanying utterance, but not
> both.  Or would you consider legal something like ?/"bImej vIneH" 
> mu'tlhegh vIjatlh/ (translating, I guess as "'I want to leave' I 
> speak a sentence")?

When /jatlh/ has an object and speech attached, the object is usually
the person addressed. 

?/qapong <matlh>/ - I called you Maltz.
/qajatlh <yI'el>/ - I said for you to come in.

It works as a short form of grammatically legal things like /qapong. 
<matlh> jIjatlh/.  
==

Qov - Beginners' Grammarian

_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com



Back to archive top level