tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Dec 22 09:47:54 1999
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Re: Topic or emphasis?
ja' charghwI':
>...Instead, what I see is Okrand calling this "topic" and
>proceeding to describe emphasis instead of topic. I mean no
>disrespect here. Okrand created something weird and wonderful
>when he made up this language and he took on a remarkable task
>to present something this different in a form that non-linguists
>and linguists alike can relish and enjoy. He can goof some. I
>don't mind. Meanwhile, over time, we ought to straighten these
>things out.
I consider it to have been straightened out years ago. In the June 1995
issue of HolQeD (Volume 4, Number 2), an interview with Okrand clarifies:
*** ***
Q: That's another thing people have been hassling about, because you
called "'e'" the topic marker, and all the time you use it as a focus
marker.
MO: And they're making the distinction... You're using topic like topic/
comment.
Q: You've been sayint things like "As for the ship, it's big, which is
focus."
MO: I stand corrected.
Q: So it really is a focus marker, then?
MO: Yeah.
*** ***
That's good enough for me.
-- ghunchu'wI' 'utlh