tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun May 16 00:55:00 2004

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Re: null prefix

QeS lagh ([email protected])



jIghItlhpu':
>The null prefix on {tlhob} is [3rd-subject], not [3rd-subject plus 
>3rd-object].

jangpu' lay'tel SIvten:
>how can you tell except by context?

You can't. :) Context is what I was using to describe this. Under the 
assumption that {tlhob} can't take a sentence as an object, {tlhob lay'tel 
SIvten} cannot mean "Steven asked it". However, SuStel has already ably 
pointed out that {'e'}, since it is a pronoun, can be elided where it is 
repeated. Thus {tlhob lay'tel SIvten} *here* means the same as {'e' tlhob 
lay'tel SIvten}.

Where {'e'} is not repeated in this way, though, {tlhob lay'tel SIvten} 
would only mean "he/she/it asked him/her/it (target of question)", not 
"he/she/it asked it (question)".

Savan.

QeS lagh

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