tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jun 09 14:33:28 2003

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Re: correct?



From: "Steven Boozer" <[email protected]>
>    be'nalwI'na' ghaH.
>    She is definitely MY wife (and not someone else's)
>
>    be'nalna'wI' ghaH.
>    She is my definite WIFE (main wife; or, not my {jup} or my {parmaqqay})
>
> The only thing that may not work is the sequence of suffixes rule.  {-na'}
> "definite, definitely, true, no doubt, real" is a Type-3 noun suffix, but
> what class are possessive suffixes?  I don't have anything listed in my
> notes; does that mean they're Rovers?

/-na'/ is Type 3, /-wI'/ is Type 4.

But even this doesn't work.  /-na'/ means that the noun chosen is definitely
the right description of the person, place, or thing in question.  It's not
a rover, and doesn't apply only to a single element of the word.  For
instance,

qach'a'na'

Doesn't mean "a building that is definitely important or big," it means that
/qach'a'/ is exactly the right way to describe the building.  Another noun
would be inferior.

Thus,

be'nalna'wI' ghaH

means something like "She is my wife, and 'wife' is exactly the right word
to describe her."

SuStel
Stardate 3438.2


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