tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Oct 09 21:50:23 2001
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RE: Help for someone new!
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
> Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2001 10:52 AM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: Help for someone new!
>
>
> From: "Rohan Fenwick" <[email protected]>
> > BTW, has anyone thought of the possibility that the suffix
> <<-'e'>> may be
> > the modern last vestige of a nominative case in ancient Klingon? We know
> > that it marks the subject in quasi-copular sentences; might
> this usage have
> > extended to all sentences? Or am I just trying too hard to expand the
> > language in a dimension it's not intended to go?
>
> I don't think Klingon ever had cases. My impression is that
> Klingon progressed from free particles to bound morphemes, at
> least in the verb system. In fact, I think we have an example of
> that happening right now: the verb {neH}.
>
> My theory is that the ancestor of present Klingon did
> not have verb suffixes, but separate verbs, which were
> simply juxtaposed to express the required meaning, eg.
> ?{jISuv vIqang}. Over time, a common set of auxiliary
> verbs lost their separate status and became suffixes
> of the verb. I think {neH} for some reason didn't make
> the transition at the same time, but is on it's way to
> doing so, which is why you don't need {'e'} when {neH}
> has another verb as its object. Maybe in 200 years,
> Klingons will say ?{jISuvneH}!
While Okrand has explained that {neH} has its special status because of
another movie goof that forced it to be that way, it strikes me that {neH}
is different from, for example {-qang}, which is probably its closest suffix
in meaning because unlike {-qang}, the person doing the wanting is not
necessarily the person doing the action of the verb. We need to be able to
put a prefix on {neH}. We don't need to put a prefix on {-qang}. See?
DaQaHqang.
DaQaH vIneH.
Willingness is almost always associated with the subject of the verb, but
desire can be associated with outside parties to the action. It is not so
commonly meaningful to say, "I'm willing that you help her," as it is to
say, "I want you to help her." If willingness is an issue, it typically is
an issue for the one doing the helping, for example.
> -- ter'eS
charghwI'