tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu May 03 20:08:00 2001
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RE: Questions
Since others have skipped the first four and gone for the fifth, and it is
not marked KLBC, I'll try to help here.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Patrick Masterson [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2001 6:51 PM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Questions
>
>
> I have a few brief questions.
>
> 1. Can nouns be used for first- and second-person subjects and
> objects, as
> in something like {maghwI'pu' SaHoH!} "I'll kill you traitors!"
> or {nuH pup
> vI'ogh wIgh!} "I, a genius, invented a perfect weapon!"
You can get what you want, but the grammar is likely different than you seem
to interpret it. Nouns are inherantly third person, except by use of a
grammatical device known as ... Hmmm. I'm having a senior moment. Argh.
Well, what it amounts to is, as you punctuate it in English, two different
words for the same thing, placed next to each other. It is essentially like
a parenthetical description. Krankor, a fine singer, just entered the room.
Meanwhile, I have to say that stylistically, it looks really ugly for first
and second person, particularly since there are other grammatical ways to
get the same goal:
maghwI'pu' tlhIH! SaHoH va!
wIgh jIHmo' nuH pup vI'ogh.
wIgh jIHba'. nuH pup vI'ogh.
> 2. Can pronouns take adjectives, as in expressions like, "Stupid me, I
> forgot to get my bat'leth!" {betleHwIj vIlIj jIH QIp!}
>
> This is more of an academic question, actually, because I'd
> probably recast
> that as {jIQIp, betleHwIj vIlIj!} or something. Or maybe {betleHwIj vIlIj
> QIpwI'!} if the answer to my first question is yes.
Yuck. I think you are thinking too noun-centrically. You are basically
exploring ways to make sentences with fewer verbs and more nouns. wejpuH.
jIQIpba'! betleHwIj vIlIj va!
jIQIpchu' 'e' vItob. batlhHa' betleHwIj vIlIj va! Heghbat vIpoQ!
jIHoH'eghmeH nuH vIpoQ. verengan! nuHlIj HInoj. toH! SoH QIp law' jIH QIp
puS. yIHegh, qoH! qogh'a'Du'lIj vIDuQ! bIHeghpa', yIbech!
Sorry. Sometimes I get carried away with my examples.
> 3. I remember seeing that 'Iv and nuq are considered pronouns
> like jIH and
> SoH and such, and they can be used as "be" verbs like jIH and
> SoH. (Who is,
> what is.) Is this right?
Yes.
> 4. Are name-calling words like toDSaH considered nouns in their
> own right,
> i.e. can they take suffixes and adjectives? {tajDaj chagh
> toDSaHvetlh QIp!}
> "That stupid bastard dropped his knife!"
Yes.
> 5. What would be a good expression for etc.? I'm thinking taH. (It
> continues.)
I agree with the suggestion {latlh je} or {latlhmey je}.
charghwI' 'utlh