tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jul 12 22:03:46 2000
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RE: Use of topic as header
I think we would all do well to better understand what is meant by "topic".
I'm tempted to consider it to be a rough equivalent to an awkward "of" in
English. {Soj'e' Suja'chuq} "Of food we discuss." {paq'e' jInaj.} "Of the
book I dream." {Hut'e' Soch jIH.} "Of nine, I am seven." {yo' Soch'e' Qanqor
HoS law' Hoch HoS puS} "Krankor is the strongest person of the seventh
fleet."
I believe this works mostly because it would be very useful if it did, but
in the past, when I argued for things that would be useful, I lost.
charghwI'
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Trimboli [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: Monday, July 10, 2000 3:10 PM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: 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
>