tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jul 01 23:27:38 1998
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Re: SuvwI'bom
jIja'pu':
> In Klingon, I am compelled to treat the questions {nuq 'oH ponglIj'e'}
> and {ponglIj 'oH nuq'e'} differently. The first question asks me what
> my name is, in the sense of asking for a description of it. The second
> asks me what my is, in the sense of asking what can be described as my
> name. I rarely dwell on this distinction, but I am always aware of it
> when someone asks a question in the order opposite the way I "want" it.
ja' HomDoq:
>jIyajchu'be'.
><<ponglIj nuq?>> DamaS qar'a'?
ghobe'. <ponglIj 'oH nuq'e'> vImaS.
><<nuq 'oH targh'e'?>> jItlhobchugh, 'ej <<Ha'DIbaH 'oH.>> vIjanglu'chugh,
>SoHvaD lugh'a' mu'tlheghvam?
lughbej.
><<targh nuq?>> jItlhobchugh, 'ej <<targh 'oH targh be'>> vIjanglu'chugh,
>SoHvaD lugh'a' je mu'tlheghvam?
<targh nuq> vImaSHa'. <targh 'oH nuq'e'> bItlhobta'chugh,
lughbej jangbogh mu'tlheghlIj.
>vaj SoHvaD lughbogh mu'tlhegh yIwIv:
>
>1: ghom'e' Delbogh wot nungbogh DIp tIn law'
> ghom'e' Delbogh DIp nungbogh wot tIn puS.
>(SoHvaD lughlaw' mu'tlheghvam.)
pablaw', 'ach vIyajbe'.
"A group which is described by a noun that comes before a verb is bigger
than a group which is described by a verb that comes before a noun."
>2: ghom'e' Delbogh DIp nungbogh wot tIn law'
> ghom'e' Delbogh wot nungbogh DIp tIn puS.
pablaw' je, 'ach vIyajbe' je.
This says the opposite of the previous sentence. However, I don't know
what you mean by either of them.
>..have to switch now...(both lang and topic(sic))
>
>what I don't like about putting nuq and 'Iv in subject position
>is that Okrand describes the subject as being the topic "as for"
>(TKD p. 68)
>
>thus <<ponglIj 'oH nuq'e'?>> sounds like "As for the what, it is
>your name." to me... or "WHAT is your name."
Indeed, that's what it sounds like to me as well. That's fine; it *is*
what I want to ask. Something is your name -- what is it? I think the
real problem is the way English turns the word order around when "to be"
and a question word are used simultaneously, coupled with the fact that
"to be" in English usually indicates equivalency. I just don't see the
same as being true in Klingon. I think it's a lot like the "a square is
a rectangle" usage, which doesn't mean the same thing when it's turned
around.