tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jan 06 12:22:32 2010
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: qoSwIj
- From: "Mark J. Reed" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: qoSwIj
- Date: Wed, 6 Jan 2010 15:21:20 -0500
- Dkim-signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:mime-version:received:in-reply-to:references :date:message-id:subject:from:to:content-type :content-transfer-encoding; bh=TNzNDTFN94ZeWNH8vdPByMch1oI/gid2uOvtIjn3E/Q=; b=J0HhWXGFFacfRK9rrObwCXwF9Xr5mmPjw9I6VVXbqff6szVteSUcuZdED+8eFJITFx NOuEhFdokyAHgvzKuAKaV0USLKrfZbtg6lMVRF2QafuSXhF6twzanjK3RjtI4yUJ+qpX LqKZ1bicS4vUBcUn7mUkZ+rh6cDwyemsxaeRA=
- Domainkey-signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to :content-type:content-transfer-encoding; b=R0yrrREa+Mt6+wLfPVnpg6iNgoDSawZA93VU83RMal1kjPtnFkkdxWjtibn9d+uIt5 qUiC2+Gd5O3z+TKHf4NYkfUY8L2JN/X7iq79wflDQZq/G1RsxgsIqVXul8JpUOQgK/zr pbO03TlEt4ug9L1YpnoryuNYkJ+QNug/mbQN8=
- In-reply-to: <[email protected]>
- References: <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <C305E6BD33E2654DAE1F8F403247B6A60113A1A565F8@EVS02.ad.uchicago.edu> <[email protected]> <[email protected]>
On Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 2:51 PM, Christopher Doty <[email protected]> wrote:
> Well, in these non-verbal copular constructions in Klingon, I think
> that the pronoun (whether it be ÊitÊ or not) is always referring to
> the same thing as the ÊobjectÊ/predicate noun... ÂIn something like
>
> <qoSwIj 'oH>
>
> The ÊitÊ of <ÊoH> is referring to birthday--ÊIt is my birthday.Ê
No, because then it would be a no-op, or at best a tautology. Saying
that "my birthday is my birthday" tells us nothing. The "it" must be
referring to something else, which the new sentence is equating with
"my birthday".
In the copula examples with a topicalized noun, that noun is the
something else (e.g. "today" in "As for today, it is my birthday.")
But in the examples without a topicalized noun, we're at something of
a loss to identify what "it" stands for.
So if it's raining, you say {SIS}. But could you legitimately, if
unnecessarily, say {SIS 'oH}? That's the question...
-marqoS
--
Mark J. Reed <[email protected]>
![[KLI Member]](/pics/KLImemberbutton.gif "[KLI Member]"){kind=small}