tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jul 26 14:15:58 2000

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RE: KLBC: relative clauses again



pagh wrote:

: > The child sees the man who hears the woman.
: > be' Qoybogh loD legh puq.
: 
: maj. This would generally be assumed to be "The child sees the man who hears
: the woman". Of course, it *could* mean "The child sees the woman who is
: heard by the man".
: 
: To disambiguate, stick an <-'e'> on the "head noun" of the relative clause.
: Your example would be <be' Qoybogh loD'e' legh puq>, while "The child sees
: the woman who is heard by the man" would be <be''e' Qoybogh loD legh puq>.
: 
: This idea was first proposed by Captain Krankor in an old Grammarian's Desk
: column, and Marc Okrand later said that Klingon does indeed work this way.

Okrand did more than agree, he's used Krankor's idea himself:

  butlh ghajbogh nuv'e' yIHo'
  Admire the person with dirt under his fingernails. (TKW)

  yIntaHvIS qeylIS'e' lIjlaHbe'bogh vay' batlh 'etlhvam chenmoHlu'pu'
  this sword of honor descends from the time of Kahless the
  Unforgettable. (S8)

  qorDu'Daj tuq 'oS Ha'quj'e' tuQbogh wo'rIv 
  The sash that Worf wears is a symbol of his family's house. (S20)

  choH lISbogh Hap'e': cha'pujqut
  Reaction Moderating Element - Crystalline Dilithium (BoP)




-- 
Voragh                       
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons


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