tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Feb 21 23:32:49 2003
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Re: Sentences as objects/pronouns/etc.
From: "...Paul" <[email protected]>
> I was thinking about the whole sentences-as-objects thing... Don't we
> have some evidence about sentences as subjects? I can't remember any off
> the top of my head, but I was thinking about the phrase { qay'be' }
> "(It's) no problem". Would not the implied subject be a sentence? Or is
> it more that you could be more specific with { ghu'vam } "This situation"
> which avoids the whole sentence-as-a-thing can of worms?
>
> I thought I remember there being a classic problem with { peD } "snow" in
> some common phrase, like "It's still snowing"? That seems solvable with
> the implied subject of { muDvam } "this weather", although { peDtaH muDvam
> } "This weather continues to snow" does seem a little awkward...
Okrand's response to using the weather verbs seems to indicate that a
subject just isn't used for these. The subject might be anything, but when
actually describing the weather, one simply isn't used. Notably, Okrand's
use of /SIS/ "It's raining" might just as well be an exclamation.
I think this spills over into other areas, like /qay'be'/. Or take another
example: we know that one can phrase a question by adding /qar'a'/ "right?":
pab mu'tlheghvam qar'a'
pab qar'a' mu'tlheghvam
This sentence is grammatical, right?
What's the subject of /qar'a'/? Well, the statement in question.
I would say that while /'e'/ is never used as a subject, there are times
when sentences may be the implied subject of another sentence, and times
when the subject can remain obscure. However, I would only apply this sort
of thinking to phrases we know it works with.
SuStel
Stardate 3143.7