tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jul 10 12:10:31 2000
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Use of topic as header
jatlh pagh:
> **WARNING - SPECULATION ALERT**
>
> It might also be possible to use the topic suffix <-'e'> to indicate,
well,
> a topic. <Soj'e' Suja'chuq>. The <Soj'e'> here is not the object - there
is
> none - it's just a "header noun", as Krankor calls them, or an "other
noun"
> as recent discussions on the list have called them. <Soj'e' Suja'chuq>
would
> basically mean "On the subject of food, y'all discussed/conferred".
>
> I brought up a similar example - <paq'e' jInaj> - years ago, back when I
was
> a wee beginner, and it was met with a confused "huh?". The recent
> disccusions on the list have made it relevant again, I think. I'd like to
> hear other opinions.
The problem with /paq'e' jInaj/ is that we don't know how the concepts of
"book" and "dream" are related to each other. I don't know if you mean that
you dreamed the contents of a book, or if you dreamed about a book, or if,
in a book, you dreamed. All we know is "The book is the topic; I dream."
Somehow, they're related, but we don't know how.
I don't object to the GRAMMAR of the sentence, but I also don't know what it
means.
I have less problem with /Soj'e' Suja'chuq/. "The topic is food; you
discuss." If you are discussing something, it isn't a big jump to assume
you are discussing the same thing as the topic of that very sentence. (It
doesn't necessarily mean it's the topic of the discussion; it's the topic of
the sentence. But presumably the context would be present to show that they
are one and the same.
(Personally, I've never been fond of using /qel/ for this sort of thing, as
in /Suja'chuq; Soj boqel/. It's just a personal preference, as I get an
image of Klingons stroking their beards thoughtfully and musing about the
topic. This is exactly what I don't want to see Klingons doing!)
SuStel
Stardate 525.1