[660] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: Infinitives
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Thu Apr 22 19:29:21 1993
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From: SPEERS@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu
To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 12:21 EDT
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Mark Reed says:
[stuff about verbs deleted]
But, if `Y` is a verb, then `Y-ghach` <is> an infinitive, or can be
used as one - that is what a verb infinitive is, a noun meaning "the act of
Y-ing". In Classical Arabic and the Vedic dialect of Sanskrit (and in Tolkien's
Quenya) verb infinitives are declinable nouns that can also be used as
"Y-ation", "the act or state of Y-ing", "Y-ingness".
I reply:
The "Y-ing" for you refer to is not an infinitive, but a gerund; a
verb used as a noun. An infinitive is just that: tenseless. How is
it used? I can only speak for English, but I would say that an
infinitive is used as a clausal complement of a verb. This clause can
behave as a noun phrase, as in
To lead the group is my ambition
where the subject of the sentence is [to lead the group]. In this
case, 'to lead' is still in a verb position, within a clause which is
used as a subject.
d'Armond
