tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed May 26 15:47:42 2004

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Re: core semantic case roles: agent, patient, focus

QeS lagh ([email protected])



ghItlhpu' Paul:

>If the issue really boils down in the end to how the imperative prefixes
>work (with or without various verb suffixes), perhaps it's because the
>imperative prefix has a connotation of /-choH/, although it's not
>explicit.  Turn it around -- does it really make sense to say /yIQong/?
>Or does one really mean /yIQongchoH/, and we can attribute this to
>"clipped Klingon"?

I don't think it has anything to do with {Hol poD}. As I see it, {-choH} 
adds an explicit assumption that the addressee is not yet asleep. The 
assumption might be implicit when you say {yIQong}, but {yIQongchoH} leaves 
no room for doubt.

A perhaps better example: If you're not assuming anything, you could say 
{boqrat chej yIQev}. If you're sure that the person you are speaking to has 
not begun to stew the bokrat liver, you would say {boqrat chej yIQevchoH}. 
If you're sure that the person you're speaking to *has* begun to stew the 
bokrat liver, you would say {boqrat chej yIQevtaH} (or nothing at all).

So to answer your question: I'd have absolutely no problem using {-choH} on 
an imperative sentence.

QeS lagh

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