[83937] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: Topic (was Re: Specifying distance traveled)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (David Trimboli)
Fri Jan 11 14:45:51 2008
Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:43:22 -0500
From: David Trimboli <david@trimboli.name>
In-reply-to: <6133C541-C7DB-4353-855B-8100F290B5B0@embarqmail.com>
To: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
Errors-to: tlhingan-hol-bounce@kli.org
Reply-to: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
Doq wrote:
> You are arguing for the interpretation I have always had of this
> example. It was what I used to justify {-'e'} as a marker for a header
> noun. That's what I mean by context. In the context of warriors in the
> galaxy, you are the greatest. Meanwhile, as you point out, there are
> no other examples of {-'e'} marking a noun hanging out in the header
> with no subject or predicate role.
It's not necessarily the only example, but it IS the only unambiguous
example. There's another: {HaqwI''e' DaH yISam}. Although TKD describes
this as the object migrating to the other side of the {DaH}, I don't
trust the layman's explanations given by Okrand. It MIGHT be the
equivalent of {HaqwI''e' DaH ghaH yISam} ("As for the surgeon, find him
now.") This is, however, just speculation, which is why I call it an
ambiguously possible example.
This example is copied with {chang'e' DaH Sam} from Star Trek VI
(although Gorkon's dialect made it more like {changey Da Sam}).
> Meanwhile, comparatives are different enough from other Klingon
> grammar, that it's hard to argue that a comparative is the only canon
> we have for justifying this idea that context is set by a header noun
> with {-'e'}.
True, but it DOES work out exactly as you would expect if headers work
normally on a comparative sentence. It's good enough for me to consider
it seriously.
> Lacking any other examples, what do we do with this?
Do? We don't DO anything with it; we just accept that that's all we know
and hope to learn more one day. If we attempt to use it, we must
understand that it's unclear, controversial, and subject to
misunderstanding.
SuStel
Stardate 8029.6
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