tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Aug 14 15:01:58 1999
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Re: KLBC / lI'laH tlhIngan Hol
ja' pIl'o':
>> qechvamvaD pup <pe'vIl>. pe'vIl bItlhuHtaHmo', jum QIchlIj.
>
>*why <bItlhuHtaHmo'> instead of <bItlhuHlI'mo'>?
I chose {-taH} instead of {-lI'} because the implied goal or stopping point
was irrelevant to the overall idea. Your speech was odd because you were,
at the time in question, breathing hard. The breathing wasn't making any
progress toward a goal, even though it was associated with an activity of
finite but extended duration.
>I was exercising for a
>definite hour, not forever. Oh, but I am BREATHING forever (well, for several
>more years, I hope)
The {-taH} "continuous" suffix does *not* mean "perpetual" or "forever".
It merely indicates that whatever action the verb refers to takes place
over an extended period of time. It tends to focus attention on the
state of being in action as much as on the action itself.
>But by the context you can understand that I am talking
>about hard breathing during the one hour session.
True, but as I explained before, the fact that you're going to stop the
intense breathing at some point has no bearing on the labored speech.
>[ I 'spose I can take comfort
>knowing that more skilled Klingon speakers are confused on this aspect issue.]
>I was talking about something that is finished, happening earlier in the day,
>and I had a temporary condition (breathing hard during a one hour session)
>that
>caused me to do something for a moment (I spoke weirdly) but I am supposed to
>use a <continuous> suffix?
{-lI'} and {-taH} are both "continuous" suffixes. In terms of aspect, they
carry *exactly* the same meaning. The only difference is that {-lI'} also
indicates that the continuous action is making progress toward a stopping
point.
>Is this usage you suggest 1) optional usage, style
>2)optimal usage or 3)required usage?
I'd call it mostly a style thing. Using {-lI'} seems to me to give an
innapropriately strong focus on the "progressing" idea in this case.
>*it seems obsurd to ask these kinds of obtuse questions when I'm still
>plugging
>verb suffixes on nouns and visa versa! pIl'o'
I think this is exactly the kind of question you need to be asking right now.
Your grasp of the basics is good enough that you can write and be readily
understood. You don't have to be rigorously perfect with everything you
know before going on to ask about things you don't understand.
-- ghunchu'wI' 'utlh