tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Sep 14 11:22:50 2007
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Re: Positioning for emphasis
lay'tel SIvten:
> >> Klingon has a very rigid word order. It's OVS.
Philip Newton:
> > It does let you front a topic, though, so I daresay one could replace
> > {yaS qIp puq} "the child hit the officer" with {puq'e' yaS qIp} "As
> > for the child, (it) hit the officer". I don't think you'd have to use
> > a resumptive pronoun.
lay'tel SIvten:
>I don't think you even could use a resumptive pronoun (which I've never heard
>used in connection with Klingon). A pronoun in the position of a resumptive
>pronoun would likely be considered a different entity from the one in the
>fronted topic. But yes, topics can be used for emphasis. {jIlugh'a'?}
I can only find three examples of fronting the topic in Klingon:
cheng'e' DaH yISam
Find Chang. ST6
HaqwI''e' DaH yISam
Find the surgeon now!" (TKD 180)
Note that these are variants of the same sentence. Note too that it's the
object that's fronted before the adverbial, not the subject. Alternate
translations (with different punctuation) rendering the marked flavor or
the Klingon might be "Chang...find him now!" or "A/The surgeon! Find him now!"
qIbDaq SuvwI''e' SoH Dun law' Hoch Dun puS
You would be the greatest warrior in the galaxy. ST5
This is an introductory phrase for the {A Q law' B Q puS} formula: "As for
warrior(s) in the galaxy, you are the greatest [one] of all." Introductory
clauses are frequently seen with law'/puS formulae BTW.
And that's it AFAIK.
As for Philip's example of "As for the child, (it) hit the officer", the
only way to grammatically translate this is {yaS qIp puq'e'}. Although the
subject can be fronted in English, it can't in Klingon; it can only be
tagged with the topic suffix {-'e}:
puqpu' chaH qama'pu''e'
The prisoners are children.
As for the prisoners, they are children. (TKD 68)
pa'DajDaq ghaHtaH la''e'
The commander is in his quarters.
As for the commander, he is in his quarters. (TKD 68)
Which means that these sentences have alternate translations:
nuqDaq 'oH puchpa''e'
Where's the bathroom? PK
"As for the bathroom, where is it?"
tera'ngan ghaH qama''e'
The prisoner is a Terran. KGT
"As for the prisoner, s/he's a Terran."
bIghHa'Daq ghaHtaH qama''e'
The prisoner is in the prison. KGT
"As for the prisoner, s/he's in the prison."
qIvo'rIt toQDuj 'oH tlhIngan wo' Duj pagh'e'
The Imperial Klingon Vessel Pagh is a K'Vort-class Bird-of-Prey. S7
"As for the IKV Pagh, it's a K'Vort-class Bird-of-Prey."
According to our current knowledge of colloquial Klingon, ?{puq'e' yaS qIp}
would most likely be understood as "S/he hit the CHILD's officer, It was
the child's officer whom s/he hit" (i.e. not some other officer).
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons