tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue May 23 03:05:05 2006

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Re: DIvI' Hol mughmeH: any more

QeS 'utlh ([email protected]) 

jIghItlhpu', jIja':
>It depends on what sort of action one is talking about, I suppose. For
>verbs describing states of being without an easily definable beginning
>and end, like {Doq} or {parHa'} (as you point out), {-choH} is definitely
>the better choice. However, for actions like hitting or eating which can
>be clearly temporally defined, {-qa'be'}, or even {-qa'Qo'}, works fine:

mujangpu' Voragh, ja':
>Not sure I agree.  I suppose the best available answer is - as it is so 
>frequently in Klingon - context, context, context!

Indeed. {{:) I didn't mean to imply that {-qa'} would necessarily be 
preferable to {-choH} in these situations, merely that sometimes it can be 
another option.

>I do like this use of {ret} "period of time ago" for "used to", but 
>unfortunately I don't think we can use it like this without a "specific 
>time unit":

Interesting, particularly in view of the canon you cite. It'd be a shame not 
to be able to do this, particularly since {ret} and {pIq} as timestamps seem 
to be the simplest way of positioning an action WRT what we'd call "tense", 
and also seems a very neat way of dealing with the "used to" of English. 
Although I suppose using {Hu'} and {ben} on their own are somewhat jarring; 
what do we do about something like {ben voDleH mangghom vItlhej}? While the 
English "in years past, I would accompany the Emperor's army" jumps 
instantly to mind, I'm really not sure that's what the Klingon is saying, 
even if it were grammatical.

QeS 'utlh
tlhIngan Hol yejHaD pabpo' / Grammarian of the Klingon Language Institute


not nItoj Hemey ngo' juppu' ngo' je
(Old roads and old friends will never deceive you)
     - Ubykh Hol vIttlhegh

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