tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jun 09 02:59:47 1998
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RE: KLBC: Q on {-meH}
HomDoq wrote:
> > Since {qaSuchmeH} has a subject and an object, it is not an
> > infinitive. The definition of infinitive involves dealing with
> > a verb without dealing with a subject or object. The most
>
> I like this much better than what Holtej wrote about infinite
> verb forms...)
Okay, I found the term I was looking for (at
http://gopher.sil.org/glossary/). Verbs which have no specified agent and
occur only in 3rd person singular forms, are called "impersonal verbs."
This doesn't imply they don't have the ability to assign AGENT roles and to
be in other forms.
I almost never comment on the use of grammar terminology; we usually
understand each other quite well. For some reason, though, misuse of
"infinitive" has always been a pet peeve of mine. Infinitives don't have
anything to do with a verb's argument structure or role assignment, but with
its state of conjugation.
Anyway. Hope this hasn't been too insignificant to be useful. (Now back to
Klingon!)
--Holtej