tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Feb 10 10:27:51 2007

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Re: Introduction

naHQun ([email protected]) 

On 2/10/07, Alpha Omicron <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hi everyone, I'm a long-time student of Klingon, but have only now
> decided to join the mailing-list.

Welcome.

>        I suppose I'll pose a language question while I'm at it; where exactly
> does a -meH clause go in a sentence? Intuitively I would assume it goes
> at the beginning like a time marker or adverb, but I have seen it at the
> end of sentences...
>

Here is what TKD says (formatting lost due to the mailing list)

6.2.4. Purpose clauses

If an action is being done in order to accomplish something, or for
the purpose of accomplishing something, the verb describing what is to
be accomplished ends with the Type 9 suffix -meH, which may be
translated for, for the purpose of, in order to. The purpose clause
always precedes the noun or verb whose purpose it is describing.

    ja'chuqmeH rojHom neH jagh la' The enemy commander wishes a truce
(in order) to confer. [[p.65]]

The phrase ja'chuqmeH rojHom a truce (in order) to confer is the
object of the verb neH he/she wants it; the subject is jaghla' enemy
commander The object is a noun rojHom truce proceeded by the purpose
clause ja'chuqmeH for the purpose of conferring or in order to confer.
(The verb is made up of ja' tell, -chuq each other; thus, confer is
tell each other.)

    jagh luHoHmeH jagh lunejtaH They are searching for the enemy in
order to kill him/her.

Here the purpose clause is jagh luHoHmeH in order for them to kill the
enemy, which is made up of the object noun jagh enemy preceding the
verb luHoHmeH in order for them to kill him/her (lu- they—him/her, HoH
kill, -meH for). It describes the purpose of the verb lunejtaH they
are searching for him/her (lu- they—him/her, nej seek, search for,
-taH continuous). Note that, just as in compound sentences, the object
noun jagh enemy occurs before each verb for which it is the object.
Thus, somewhat more literally, the sentence may be translated In order
to kill the enemy, they are searching for the enemy.
  Furthermore, just as in compound sentences, the second of two
identical nouns may be replaced by a pronoun or, if the context, is
clear, left out altogether.

    jagh luHoHmeH ghaH lunejtaH
    jagh luHoHmeH lunejtaH They are searching for the enemy in order
to kill him/her.



Notes: (taken from http://teresh.tdonnelly.org/kliaddi.html)
(formatting obviously lost as well)

1. Verbs with -meH can modify nouns as well as verbs, eg. pe'meH taj
"cutting knife". They are able to take actual subjects and/or objects.
[HQ v7n3p6; HQ v7n2p14; KGT, p.63]

Commentary

Although first stated in TKD, the full implications of this didn't
become clear until later. We especially didn't realize the
implications of the fact that nouns could be modified with a -meH verb
which itself had subjects or objects (see below).

2. Such verbs can be used to express Sentences as Subjects, eg. nargh
qaSuchmeH 'eb "the opportunity to visit you has passed". [HQ v7n2p14]
Commentary
Certain types of sentences require a verb phrase to be the subject of
another verb. In English, these are usually expressed by sentences of
the type "It is X that Y"; for example, "It is good to see you" is
equivalent to "It is good that I see you", which is equivalent to "(I
see you) is good." This is called a clefted expression; the
Sentence-As-Subject, "(I see you)" is moved from subject position
(with a change in form) to after the verb "good", and the dummy
subject "It" serves as the marker of the clefted expression and points
back to the clefted phrase.
Klingon has no exact equivalent of this construction, but we have come
to see that a verb phrase with -meH and a noun subject can express the
same sort of relationship: QaQ qaleghmeH 'eb. There are several likely
candidates for the head noun (i.e., the noun that serves as the actual
subject and as the head of the -meH phrase: 'eb, Qu', ghu', etc. Note
that this construction carries a sense of purpose that is absent in
the English version; in most cases, this doesn't affect the meaning,
but it may mean that certain nouns are not appropriate as head nouns.

3. Verbs with -meH must take verb prefixes, if only the 3-rd person
zero-prefix, when appropriate. [HQ v8n2p12]

Commentary

The practical applications of my article cited above are that

1. the -meH verb can take objects when desired;

2. the -meH verb must take a prefix when the subject of the purpose
clause is 1st or 2nd person (or plural 3rd person with singular 3rd
person object);

3. when the subject of the purpose clause is indefinite, you can
indicate this with -lu' or by 3rd person zero-suffix and no stated
subject noun.



~naHQun

-- 
Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any
taste in the white of an egg?
Job 6:6

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