tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Mar 25 15:29:57 2002
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Re: nested <<'e'>>s
From: "Steven Boozer" <[email protected]>
> Voragh:
> > >AFAIK, Okrand has never nested {'e'}, but he has used two in one
sentence:
> > > bISuv 'e' yIwIv; bISutlh 'e' yIwIvQo'
> > > Choose to fight, not negotiate. TKW
>
> ghunchu'wI':
> >mu'tlhegh 'ar Dalegh SoH? loS mu'tlheghmey vItogh jIH.
>
> cha' (loS ghap) mu'tlheghHom nap ngaSbogh wa' mu'tlhegh Qatlh vItogh.
cha'
> mu'tlheghHom neH ngaS DIvI' Hol mu'tlhegh, 'ach loS mu'tlheghHom mach
> (moHaq wot je) ngaS tlhIngan Hol mu'tlhegh.
>
> I count one compound ["complex"] sentence, comprised of two (or four)
> simple clauses. Although the English sentence contains only two clauses,
> the Klingon contains four small clauses (prefix + verb).
If you've got two related but independent bits separated by a semi-colon,
and there's no colon in the line, chances are what you really have is two
sentences. That is the case in this and numerous other Klingon utterances:
a semi-colon is used because you've got two complete sentences that are so
closely related that they deserve to be together. They're still really two
sentences though.
This proverb is equivalent to
bISuv 'e' yIwIv. bISutlh 'e' yIwIvQo'.
The reason he uses a semi-colon is to link the two sentences more closely.
Ignoring the fact that each non-/'e'/ word is a complete sentence in itself,
you've got two sentences here.
Anyway, this has nothing to do with "nested /'e'/," and is all about how you
look at it.
SuStel
Stardate 2230.9