tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Apr 12 00:20:40 2002
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RE: need help on translation
At 13:51 2002-04-11 -0500, Steven Boozer wrote:
> chu''a' DIr 'In chu'bogh wo'rIv?
> Is the drum Worf is playing new?.
I wonder if a question particle can be attached in a non-matrix clause,
like so:
?{DIr 'InDaj chu''a' chu' wo'rIv?}
It's a very infrequently needed sort of construction, and very easy to miss
when writing a grammar-sketch; but I have a dim memory that Quechua can do
question-focus that way. (The homophonous {chu'}s do make this hard to
parse, of course, but I suppose the issue is still open on the construction
besides.)
As an aside:
Some would want "evidence" that one can have a -'a' on a non-matrix
predicate. I could alternately suggest a need for "evidence" of a
constraint against -'a' occurring on non-matrix predicates.
It is useful to bear in mind that clearly not all Earth languages are as
enfeebled as English or other Eurasian languages, which, like a broken
clock, are predictably right, occasionally (in fact, about twice a day!).
And Klingon is better! AND BIGGER!
--
Sean M. Burke http://www.spinn.net/~sburke/