[84544] in tlhIngan-Hol

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Re: Klingon WOTD: ngIp (verb)

daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Alan Anderson)
Tue Apr 29 23:01:08 2008

In-Reply-To: <BAY144-DAV1035EBD46DC550782F1F6EB6D80@phx.gbl>
From: Alan Anderson <aranders@insightbb.com>
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2008 22:59:29 -0400
To: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
Errors-to: tlhingan-hol-bounce@kli.org
Reply-to: tlhingan-hol@kli.org

On Apr 29, 2008, at 10:36 PM, Sangqar wrote:
> qatlh SAO 'e' DaQub?
> SAO qatlh 'e' DaQub?
> SAO 'e' qatlh DaQub?
>
> So is there a consensus on placement of question words in sentences  
> with SAO?

Your first option is obviously wrong, since it puts the question word  
outside the sentence which is asking the question.  Your second  
option follows the prescribed grammar.  Your final one follows the  
example in Skybox card S26, {lurSa' be'etor je} "Lursa and B'Etor":

{DuraS tuq tlhIngan yejquv patlh luDub 'e' reH lunIDtaH DuraS  
be'nI'pu' lurSa' be'etor je.}
"The sisters of Duras, Lursa™ and B'Etor™ are constantly seeking a  
higher standing for the house of Duras within the Klingon™ High  
Council."

The consensus seems to be that the {qatlh 'e' DaQub} phrasing is  
pedantically correct, and that {'e' qatlh DaQub} is understandable  
but might not be completely right.  To reconcile the S26 example, I  
theorize that the pronoun {'e'} is similar to the suffix {-'e'} in  
that it permits the object to come earlier in the sentence than its  
usual spot immediately before the verb.


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