[100] in tlhIngan-Hol
X is in/at Y, with -taH
dcctdw@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (dcctdw@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Sun Feb 16 15:23:10 1992
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Reply-To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
From: mosquito@Athena.MIT.EDU
To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
Date: Sat, 11 Jan 92 00:31:30 -0500
I noticed an apparent inconsistency, and thought up a possible explanation.
The commander is in his quarters.
pa'DajDaq ghaHtaH la''e'.
I'm lost. ("I don't know the "here" where I am.")
jIHtaHbogh naDev vISovbe'.
Where is the bathroom?
nuqDaq 'oH puchpa''e'?
Where is a good restaurant?
nuqDaq 'oH Qe' QaQ'e'?
Note the use and disuse of -taH. Why the inconsistency? My explanation:
Essentially, when -taH is used, it says "is currently in the progress of
being here". But when you are referring to a fixed location, whose
identity is sort of defined partly by its location, the -taH is not used.
That's because you are describing it, in some way. To say it is currently
in the process of being there implies it can be elsewhere.
So when asking about the location of the child, the ship, the enemy, etc.,
you use -taH, to ask its current state of being. But when asking about the
location of the bathroom, a good restaurant, the planet Vulcan, etc., you
do not use -taH since it is by nature in a certain location; it doesn't
move on a regular basis.
Another explanation is based on the fact that the examples with -taH,
are statements, and those without -taH are questions. Possibly, nuqDaq
somehow makes the -taH unnecessary. Strangely, DujDaq does not have this
effect. Perhaps the fact that is a question has something to do with it.
Maybe we'd get the same result with "Who is in my quarters" or "Is the
commander in his quarters?"
============================
In thinking up the above example, another issue appeared:
pa' 'oH puchpa''e'.
At first sight, there seems to be an ambiguity. Does it say, "The bathroom is
there", or "the bathroom is a room?"
I would say since "the bathroom is a room" is obvious by definition, a
Klingon would not say such a thing. Hence it can only mean "The bathroom is
there". Hence, it is not ambiguous.
Suggestions? Comments?
\ /
--OO--
!! mosquito@athena.mit.edu
Kevin Iga
