tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Aug 21 13:18:36 2001
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Strongest Among Gauls
- From: "David Trimboli" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Strongest Among Gauls
- Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 13:18:35 -0400
From: "Stauffer, Tad E (staufte7)" <[email protected]>
>tamwI' said:
>
> Another question that I have is how to say "among" in the
>comparative sense:
> he was the strongest among the Gauls? The best I could come up with
>would
> be <<ghaH HoS law' Hoch *Gaul HoS puS>>, what do you think?
>
>You sentence here works fine for the meaning that you want. Literally,
>you're saying "He is stronger than every Gaul."
>Instead of {Hoch *Gaul*} ("every Gaul"), you could also say {latlh
>*Gaul*pu'} ("other Gauls"). That is:
>
>{ghaH HoS law' latlh *Gaul*pu' HoS puS.} "He is stronger than the other
>Gauls."
I'd also like to point out an example we have from Okrand that can be
applied here:
qIbDaq SuvwI''e' SoH Dun law' Hoch Dun puS.
You would be the greatest warrior in the galaxy. (Star Trek V)
The cool part here is that you can add "header" nouns to the beginning of
law'/puS sentences, just like you can regular sentences. When you say
tachDaq verengan vIlegh
I saw the Ferengi in the bar,
you're taking the sentence /verengan vIlegh/ "I saw the Ferengi" and adding
a "header": /tachDaq/. (I don't have my TKD here or I'd point out the
section of the book that says you can do this.) The Star Trek V sentence
works the same way. The basic sentence is
SoH Dun law' Hoch Dun puS
You are the most wonderful (greatest)
to which are added two headers:
qIbDaq
in the galaxy
SuvwI''e'
warrior(s) (as topic).
Thus, the sentence means "In the galaxy, regarding warriors, you are the
most wonderful."
So we might do the same thing with your Gauls.
*Gaul*'e' ghaH HoS law' Hoch HoS puS.
He is the strongest of the Gauls.
Literally, it's saying "Regarding Gauls, he is the strongest."
Note that this use of topic is never explicitly defined by Okrand; it is
derived from the definition of /-'e'/, the rules of syntax, and at least one
of his example sentences.
SuStel
Stardate 1639.2
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