tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon May 01 10:08:51 2006
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Re: KLBC
QeS:
> > Also, {DaHjaj} is not an adverb, but a noun, and
> > {DaHjaj po} is a noun-noun
> > construction acting as a time stamp: "today's
> > morning". I'm not sure that
> > true adverbs can modify each other; I know of no
> > canon evidence either way.
I found two, though one is poetry/song:
batlh maHeghbej 'ej yo' qIjDaq vavpu'ma' DImuv.
pa' reH maSuvtaHqu'
Then we die with honor and join our fathers in the Black Fleet
where we battle forever. (Anthem)
and the other's an exclamation:
ghaytanHa' jay'
Not bloody likely! RT
But as we know, {jay'} is unusual among the adverbials:
This word not only intensifies whatever is being said, it
turns the whole phrase into an invective. Alone among the
adverbials, {jay'} always comes at the end of the sentence.
(TKD 177)
I also found this interesting example:
pIj maSuvpu' batlh maSuvpu' 'ej maQapbejta'.
In our many battles, we have fought with honor and achieved VICTORY!
(Hallmark)
Here Okrand repeated the verb rather than use two adverbials
together. Repeating an element is fairly common in Klingon, where in
English such repetition would sound awkward and redundant. We've seen
other examples of this sort of repetition. (I'll let someone else dig
those up.)
ter'eS:
>I never said that adverbs modify each other; I said
>that you can have multiple adverbs each modifying
>the verb.
>
>I would also argue that all timestamps are adverbial
>in function, regardless of the original part of
>speech of their elements. I also understand
>{DaHjaj po} to be two separate timestamps: 'today'
>and 'in the morning'.
Although I agree with ter'eS's analysis, the argument is complicated by the
fact that some words which are adverbs in English are considered nouns in
Klingon:
It is worth noting at this point that the concepts expressed by
the English adverbs "here", "there", and "everywhere" are expressed
by nouns in Klingon: {naDev} "hereabouts", {pa'} "thereabouts",
{Dat} "everywhere". These words may perhaps be translated more
literally as "area around here," "area over there," and "all places,"
respectively.
Okrand goes on to point out another little wrinkle in the adverb/noun
distinction in Klingon:
Unlike other nouns, these three words are never followed by the
locative suffix [i.e. {-Daq}]. (TKD 27)
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons