tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Feb 18 07:47:21 1999
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-pu' - WAS Re: ma'veq: It's official
- From: "Qermaq" <[email protected]>
- Subject: -pu' - WAS Re: ma'veq: It's official
- Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 10:51:27 -0500
Ok, my turn.
ghItlh charghwI' loD Doq je:
>>Aspect is not the same thing as tense. Aspect involves the degree of
>>completion of an action, and is expressed using Type 7 verb suffixes
>>(and a rare syntactic {rIntaH}). Tense involves the time at which an
>>action occured in the past or occurs now or will occur in the future.
>>Tense is not indicated in Klingon grammar. The English verb forms
>>"confuse" and "confused" are both translated {mISmoH} in Klingon.
>
>Okay, a malyprop on my part: please, don't let the word "tense" distract
>you. I meant only the idea of things that had happened in the past.
bIyajHa'. Tense is the correct word for the sense of past, present, future.
There is no tense in Klingon.
>>Are you trying to say something like "I used to think that the prefixes
>>confuse me"? That's the only way I can figure out how you'd want to put
>>an aspect suffix on {Qub}.
>
>You have just broken the rule yourself. "I used to think..." is not the
>same thing as "I had thought...", the former is in the past imperfect
>tense, whereas the latter is in the past perfect tense (which translates to
>the Klingon "completed past action" from what I can gather).
reH lugh charghwI'. {{:o) In English any part of the sentence can be in
generally any aspect you want. In Klingon, the bit after 'e' must not be
perfective. It is forbidden. Even if it seems to work, it is incorrect.
>I am not trying to say, "I used to think...", I am actually trying to say
>"I had thought..." which is completely different.
I know. And you do a wonderful job of it in English, but you CANNOT say that
in Klingon. Hey, I don't make the rules... But I'm not totally convinced
that "I once thought" is different from "I had thought". What is the real
difference?
Or consider: mumISmoH moHaqmey 'ach DaH mumISmoHbe'.
It is a pain, that rule. You're not the first to think so. Join the club.
>*chutmey vIlobbe'qang 'e' vIjatlh neH. HIchergh.*
reH macherghqang.
Qermaq