tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Feb 05 21:30:46 2001
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Re: Hixkaryana and Klingon
> kaw-ohra naha Waraka, kaw nah Kaywere
> tall-not he's Waraka, tall he's Kaywere
> Kaywere is taller than Waraka
ja' Nick Nicholas:
> That pattern's fairly widespread in the Americas though, isn't it? And
> Okrand was an Amerindianist.
The Klingon pattern isn't the same as the Hixkaryana one, though.
Hixkaryana looks like it does comparisons by using two standard contrasting
sentences, while Klingon has a unique grammatical form for them.
English: A is Q-er than B
Klingon: A Q law' B Q puS
Hixkaryana: Q-be' B, Q A
I've not done the research, but I recall hearing a number of years ago that
one family of Native American languages uses *exactly* the comparison
formula that Klingon employs.
-- ghunchu'wI' 'utlh