tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Dec 02 13:12:21 2009
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Re: Cogito ergo sum (was RE: Numbers with pronouns)
Christopher Doty wrote:
> On Wed, Dec 2, 2009 at 11:17, Mark J. Reed <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Sequence of events: Okrand was asked to translate "To be or not to be"
>> for Star Trek VI. He came up with {taH pagh taHbe'}, inventing the
>> verb {taH} on the spot, obviously a back-formation from the suffix.
>
> I was responding to the fact that, as far as I know, we don't have
> examples of a bare verb functioning as a sort of infinitive.
We sort of do. KGT has all sorts of "infinitive" phrases in examples;
that is, the phrases leave off any indication of person. It is as if
they refer to 3rd-person singular arguments. For instance:
ngem Sarghmey tlha'
chase forest sarks
It wasn't translated "He/she/it/they chase(s) forest sarks."
It might be possible to view {taH pagh taHbe'} in the same say. Hamlet
is thinking "Should I choose {taH} or {taHbe'}?" not "Should I choose to
go on or not to go on?" He's thinking about the WORDS.
It could also simply be clipped.
--
SuStel
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