tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jan 30 19:37:54 2002

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Re: subjects in complex sentences



lab Voragh:

>Voragh:
> >> though I would drop one of the {puqpu'} since it's a
> >> short sentence:
> >>   ta' qIp 'e' ngIl puqvetlh!
>
>ghunchu'wI':
> > Voragh, you consistently suggest that the *first* noun be dropped.
> > Do you really find it simpler that way?  I'd much rather get the
> > information early than to have to wait for the rest of the words
> > before I can know what the first phrase is talking about.
>
>Hmm... I've never really thought about it.  Personal style, I guess.
>
>I see it as an extension of Okrand's basic OVS pattern.  Klingons would expect
>the subject to be at the very end of a sentence.  In a relatively short
>sentence like this one, it's not that difficult to wait for the end.  And 
>there
>are even longer examples in canon:
>
>   Ha'DIbaHmey meQ Sop 'e' [lu]tIv tera'nganpu'.
>   Terrans enjoy eating burnt animals. CK

[... many other good examples deleted ...]

>   qagh, ro'qegh'Iwchab, targh tIq Sop 'e' lungIl Humanpu' puS.
>   Few humans dare to eat gagh, rokeg blood pie, or heart of targ. S21

Voragh, bIche'chu'.  You know what you're talking about and you support it 
with canon that brooks no argument.

>Qov: : cha'logh <puq> lo'bogh mu'tlhegh vImaS jIH, 'ach Dachchugh wa' 
><puq>, : Dach cha'DIch 'e' vImaS. loSnISDI' 'IjwI, QatlhchoH 'IjmeH Qu'.
>
>De gustibus non disputandum est.

You've convinced me.  It's not taste, it's English bias.  Your canon 
examples fully support your suggestion and make my former preference quite 
dubious.  Please keep doing this.  We need you to keep us from forming our 
own personal dialect of Klingon.  Thank you.





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