tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Nov 06 12:01:01 1999

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Re: KLBG Re: Some questions



jatlh DraQoS:
> I note the FAQ is noncommittal on the kosherness of the
> prefix trick. And as the TKD does not identify a verb as
> transitive or intransitive, I am curious as to whether those
> concepts are even applicable.


Oh, the "prefix trick" is a real thing.  The following is an excerpt of a
post sent by Marc Okrand to the now-defunct
msn.onstage.startrek.expert.okrand newsgroup on June 30, 1997:

**********
When the indirect object (in this case, the hearer) is first or second
person, the pronominal prefix which normally indicates first or second
person object may be used.  There are other examples of this sort of thing
with other verbs.  For example, someone undergoing the Rite of Ascension
says:

tIqwIj Sa'angnIS "I must show you [plural] my heart"
(tIqwIj "my heart," Sa'angnIS "I must show you [plural] it")

The pronominal prefix in this phrase is Sa-, which means "I [do something
to] all of you" in such sentences as:

Salegh "I see you [plural]"

but when there's already an object (in this case, tIqwIj "my heart"), the
"object" of the prefix is interpreted as the indirect object, so Sa- means
"I [do something to] it for you" or the like.

This, then, brings us back to your question.  Since the object of jatlh is
that which is spoken, and since "you" or "I" or "we" cannot be spoken (and
therefore cannot be the object of the verb), if the verb is used with a
pronominal prefix indicating a first- or second-person object, that first
or second person is the indirect object.

Which is a not very elegant way of saying that qajatlh means "I speak to
you" or, more literally, perhaps "I speak it to you," where "it" is a
language or a speech or whatever:

qajatlh "I speak to you"

Sajatlh "I speak to you [plural]"

chojatlh "you speak to me"

tlhIngan Hol qajatlh "I speak Klingon to you"
(tlhIngan Hol "Klingon language," qajatlh "I speak it to you")
*****************


SuStel
Stardate 99848.8





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