tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Mar 24 18:48:30 2002

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Re: KLBC: {-be'}

jatlh DloraH:

 >
 > >HIja'.  Yes.
 > >MO has not used this yet, but he has not told us we couldn't.
 >
 > <<'e'>>mey law' rur'a'?

jIjatlh:

 > Like nested <<'e'>>? :)

jatlh SuStel:

>Yeah.  We have to walk a fine line when studying Klingon.  On the one hand,
>there's the temptation to say, "Anything that Marc Okrand doesn't say we
>can't do, is allowed!"  That way chaos lies.  There comes a point where we
>need SOME concensus on what works and what doesn't.  On the other hand, you
>might be tempted to say, "You can ONLY do what Marc Okrand has explained or
>done."  But there's so much that hasn't been explained or exemplified that
>we'd hardly be able to say anything.
>When asking questions like, "Can I use multiple /-be'/ in a single word?"
>don't expect an absolute answer one way or the other.  It's not a "yes,"
>it's not a "no," it's a "we don't know for sure, but here's what careful
>study and extrapolation lead us to believe."  If you get an absolute answer
>anyway, ask for the reason: someone might be giving you their opinion, not
>an established fact.  Just be clear on what's what.


qatlho'. When I have questions like these, it always is nice to get a 
black-and-white answer - for example, perhaps there's canon that I don't 
have which contains confirmation of a (hypothetical) rule.
'ach chaq "canon" rom wIghajbe' maH. lo'be' Marc Okrand, 'ej meq ghajlaw'. 
chaq Sovchu'be' matlh. tlhIngan Hol naQ ngaSlaHbe' nachDaj; chaq DIvI' Hol 
mu'tlhegh "He saw John and I in the park" rur. maqarbejchugh, "Objects go in 
accusative case" jatlh DIvI' Hol pab. 'ach "He saw John and I in the park" 
majatlh, Qapbe'mo' DIvI' Hol chutvetlh mu'tlheghvetlh wIjatlhDI'. chut pIm 
wIlo'nIS.

But perhaps if I have no agreeing canon, no-one else has. Marc Okrand hasn't 
used it, and there is probably a reason. Maybe Maltz isn't 100% sure. His 
head doesn't contain the entire Klingon language; perhaps this rule 
resembles the English sentence "He saw John and I in the park". If we want 
to be strictly accurate on the general rule, English grammar says "Objects 
go in the accusative case". But we say "He saw John and I in the park" 
anyway, because when we say this sentence, that rule doesn't work. We need 
to use a different one.

vaj, jIHoj.

"Question As Object" lo'be' Marc Okrand je. :P

Qapla' 'ej Satlho'

ro'Han

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