RE: qep'a' pa' qoch vInej

["Andeen, Eric" <Eric.Andeen@Sequencia.com>]

jatlh peHruS:

>>>>>

In a message dated 2/12/1999 11:58:53 AM US Mountain Standard Time,
aranders@netusa1.net writes:

<< wej ben, cha' ben, wa' ben je  >>

This reply has nothing to do with Alan's request for a {qoch}.  I see that
ghunchu'wI'  does indeed write the number and the noun separately.  Well, I
don't want to pick on ghunchu'wI' here.  MO is WRONG.  MO clearly lists
{wa'Hu'} and {wa'leS} as two-syllable single words on p. 113 of TKD.  MO
should have separated these glosses into a number and a NOUN.

Well, if MO is right on p. 113, then MO himself has not given us complete
explanations why p. 92 {leS} (n) and p. 90 {Hu'} (n) have become time words
(which I still think are "adverbs" in function).  There is other evidence
that
specific Klingon nouns may function as adverbs:  {Dat}, {naDev}, and {pa'}.
Hmm.  Specific Klingon nouns may function as adverbs; not all nouns will
ever
function as adverbs.  Unlike in languages of Earth, we cannot add on an
equivalent of "-ly" of English or "-siya" of Swahili and change just any
noun
into an adverb.  peHruS muses aloud.

I see I'm not through thinking about this.

>>>>>

It is quite simple: <naDev>, <Dat>, <ben>, <Hu'>, etc. are all nouns. They
can be the object or subject of a verb, as in <cha' nem vIlegh vIneH> or
<mupIlmoHbej naDev>. maQochbe'chu', qar'a'?

Any noun at all can be put at the beginning of a sentence and be neither an
object nor a subject - it just needs a type five suffix (probably excluding
<-'e'>). If you want to say they act like adverbials, go ahead. For this
argument, I will call them "free nouns". I just made up that term out of
thin air to get away from all the terminology that can choke the discussion,
especially with a lot of people (including me) around with a limited
knowledge of linguistics. In any case, *any* noun can be a free noun if it
has a type five suffix. maQochbe'qa', qar'a'?

Finally, there are some special nouns that can act as free nouns *without* a
type five suffix. The two classes of these that I know of are those that set
the context of the sentence in space and in time. <Dat>, <naDev>, <pa'> and
possibly a few other nouns include an inherent locative, and are allowed to
act as free nouns. <ben>, <Hu'>, <leS>, <nem>, <DaHjaj>, <po>, etc.
establish time contexts, and are allowed to act as free nouns. qay'be'chu'
jay'.

Of course, <DaH> is an adverbial, but what's a language without exceptions?


pagh
Beginners' Grammarian