tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Dec 04 08:31:31 2007
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Re: usage of type-7 aspect suffix {-pu}
Qang qu'wI:
> > poSpu' HoD mInDu'
> >
> > In the absence of any context, would this be understood to indicate
> that the
> > captain's eyes are currently opened, or are currently closed?
> > Or is it undetermined and therefore dependent entirely on context?
David:
>The sentence does not indicate any time context, so we don't know what's
>"current." All we know is that the sentence refers to the the captain's
>eye-opening being complete.
Except that {poS} "be open, opened" is not an action verb, but a quality
(stative verb). Okrand on {-pu'} "perfective":
This suffix indicates that AN ACTION IS COMPLETED. It is often
translated by the English present perfect ("have done something").
[TKD 41, emphasis added]
I could find NO examples of {-pu'} on a simple quality. In fact, the only
example of a quality used with {-pu'} I could find was:
ghorgh tujchoHpu' bIQ
When will the water be hot? TKD
which is {tuj} "be hot" plus {-choH} "change in state", which changes the
descriptive quality to a action: {tujchoH} "become hot, get hot, heat up".
I would say that *{poSpu' HoD mInDu'} "the captain's eyes were [but are no
longer] open" is not allowed. To render the idea of no longer open, use
the antonym {SoQ}: {SoQ HoD mInDu'} "the captain's eyes are closed/shut".
> > I'm also not sure if Klingons would necessarily use the verb {poS} with
> this
> > meaning (for eyes), of course, but I'm willing to live with it.
I believe that if you want to use {-pu'} you would need to convert the
quality to an action by adding {-choH}:
poSchoHpu' HoD mInDu'
the captain's eyes have opened
or {-moH} "cause":
mInDu'[Daj] poSmoHpu' HoD
the captain has opened his eyes"
which BTW could also mean that the captain opened someone else's eyes (e.g.
an unconscious prisoner under interrogation). (I wonder if there's any way
to distinguish "his eyes" from "his own eyes"?)
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons