tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Aug 19 20:17:57 1999
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Re: Tammy - a word for today
ja' [email protected]:
>I, me - jIH
This is a deceptively simple-looking word. As a pronoun, it can be used
as a noun referring to the person speaking; that's what the "I, me" part
of the definition says. It works as either subject or object:
yaS vIlegh jIH - "I see the officer."
jIH mulegh yaS - "The officer sees me."
Since the verb prefix always indicates when the subject or object is the
person speaking, the pronoun is never necessary. The previous sentences
are usually said without the explicit pronoun:
yaS vIlegh - "I see the officer."
mulegh yaS - "The officer sees me."
Because they are redundant, using pronouns generally serves to emphasize
or clarify the meaning, so the first examples are better translated as:
yaS vIlegh jIH - "It is *I* who sees the officer."
jIH mulegh yaS - "The officer sees *me* (not somebody else)."
In addition, TKD section 6.3 describes how pronouns can act as verbs in
a couple of senses of "to be".
rewbe' jIH - "I am a citizen."
pa'Daq jIHtaH -- "I am in the room."
When used in this way, the pronoun can have verb suffixes.
*** *** ***
An isolated word a day can be a useful thing -- if you already know how
the language works and you're just trying to build vocabulary. But you
still need to know how to *use* the word, not just how to translate it.
-- ghunchu'wI' 'utlh