tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Jul 13 05:04:05 2002
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Re: grammar questions
Sengval said:
>So, if you wanted to translate these (loosely), you could say:
>
>{chetvI'vo' targh bach torgh net Qoy} - Anyone (who was there) could hear
>the targ being launched.
>
>{chetvI'vo' targh bach torgh 'e' Qoylu'} - Someone heard the targ being
>launched.
>
>The first seems to be more of a statement about the nature of the noise the
>targ made. It was so loud that anyone around _could_ hear it. Whether
>anyone actually heard it or not is less relevant. The second seems to focus
>more on the fact that someone _did_ hear it. It _was_ heard.
>
>jIqar'a'?
Hmmmm... Technically, the difference between {net} and {'e' X-lu'} is who
is doing the action. Either "one/someone", or "indefinite/unknown/general".
I'm not sure whether it would be good to think of it as differentiating
between *could* hear it, and *did* hear it. Maybe you could think of {net}
as "assuming it to be true for various people", and think of {'e' X-lu'} as
"true for at least one specific case, even though the subject may be
general or unspecified".
Here's another example I'll create:
{nom vIHtaH Dujmey}
"The cars (ships) are moving quickly."
{nom vIHtaH Dujmey net buSnIS}
I'd translate this as something such as "One must be aware that the cars
are moving quickly". Sort of similar to the general advice of "One should
look both ways before crossing the street"
{nom vIHtaH Dujmey 'e' buSnISlu'}
Without specific context, here it seems likely that I mean that people in
general should watch for fast cars, and the meaning is similar to the
version above.
Now, suppose I see a red blood stain on the street and assume that someone
had been hit by a car. With my macabre sense of humor, I could say:
{nom vIHtaH Dujmey net buSnISqu'}
"People *really* ought to look both ways before crossing the street"
In this case, I'm talking about people in general.
or I could say:
{nom vIHtaH Dujmey 'e' buSnISqu'lu'}
"Someone *really* ought to have looked both ways before crossing the street"
Here, I'm talking about an indefinite person (I don't know who exactly it,
um, was).
Hope this helps.. I'm not sure if it's any clearer.
- taD