tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Mar 25 18:20:01 2001
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RE: SarriSvaD
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: Saturday, March 24, 2001 10:42 PM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: re: SarriSvaD
>
>
> Hi, about the only one I had a glaring question about in my
> previous mail would be HIghel and mughel. My understanding from
> KGT is that ghel implies the noun 'question', allowing one to use
> a construction like I did. Please, let me know if there are
> alternatives to this thinking.:/ (And also correct any and all
> mistakes elsewhere in the post).
Okrand has only two verbs of speech with an interesting relationship between
them. One is {ja'} and the appropriate direct object for it is the person
being spoken to and the other is {jatlh} and the appropriate direct object
is that which is spoken (like a language or some sort of unit of spoken
text, like a speech or a lecture).
Okrand similarly has two different verbs indicating questioning. One is
{ghel} and the other is {tlhob}. I talked to him about this once and it is
pretty clear that his intent was to create a parallel with the speech verbs.
The direct object of {ghel} was supposed to be, like {jatlh}, the question
itself (that which is asked), while the direct object of {tlhob} was
supposed to be, like {ja'} the person being questioned. Unfortunately,
Okrand didn't come up with {ghel} until years after he had come up with
{tlhob} and during that time he created a canonical example of {tlhob} being
used (in his joke on the audiotape Conversational Klingon) in the manner he
later wanted {ghel} to be used.
That made everything muddy for question verbs. Okrand is very reluctant to
refer to an earlier example as an error, so now {tlhob} can be used with the
direct object either being the person addressed or the question asked, while
{ghel} can only be used with the direct object being the question asked. I
tend to favor using these two verbs in the way Okrand later intended to use
them. The language is more interesting and consistent that way.
And to further complicate this matter, you can use the "prefix shortcut" to
indicate the indirect object, if it is first or second person, so {qaghel,
choghel, mughel, Dughel}, etc. are acceptable, too.
If you want the simplest, most correct use of {ghel} and {tlhob}, I'd
recommend that you use {ghel} when the focus of what you are saying is on
the question at hand, while {tlhob} is used when the focus is on the person
being asked.
> Jason A. Jorgenson
> Literature Nut
paq naHlet 'oH nuq'e'?
SarrIS