tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue May 25 14:28:13 2004
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Re: action verbs vs. qualities
- From: "QeS lagh" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: action verbs vs. qualities
- Date: Wed, 26 May 2004 07:27:34 +1000
- Bcc:
ghItlhpu' Voragh:
>He has, however, used {-ta'} several times - not as many as {-taH} and
>{-pu'} however - and ALWAYS on an action verb, never a quality.
Might this be because it's difficult to "accomplish" a quality? If you say
{jIDoq} "I am red", then ??{jIDoqta'} becomes weird.
I think this might have something to do with a distinction between agent
(one who causes an action) and patient (one to whom the action is done),
rather than subject and object. An intransitive verb like {jIQong} has an
agent. A stative verb like {jIDoq} has only a patient. As I see it, {-ta'}
refers *only* to sentences that have agents.
Of course, we can fix up {Doq} so that it does have an agent:
{jIDoq'eghmoHta'} "I have made myself be red".
Savan.
QeS lagh
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