[86230] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: Questions with law'/puS
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Terrence Donnelly)
Thu Jul 9 12:26:39 2009
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2009 08:04:54 -0700 (PDT)
From: Terrence Donnelly <terrence.donnelly@sbcglobal.net>
To: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
Errors-to: tlhingan-hol-bounce@kli.org
Reply-to: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
-- On Tue, 7/7/09, ghunchu'wI' <qunchuy@alcaco.net> wrote:
> Date: Tuesday, July 7, 2009, 4:12 PM
> On Jul 7, 2009, at 2:59 PM, qe'San
> ((Jon Brown)) wrote:
>
> > Using "who?" an observer of the classic joke migh just
> ask a fellow
> > observer:
> >
> > 'Iv Doy' law' Hoch Doy'
> puS, qama' 'avwI' ghap Dangu'
>
> I think you want the imperative prefix {yI-} instead of
> {Da-}. I
> also think {per} "label, specify, ascertain" might be a
> better verb
> here than {ngu'} "identify".
>
I have come around to ghunchu'wI's idea that {'Iv X law'/latlh X puS} does indeed mean "Who is the more X?", and that {Hoch X puS} would be used for the superlative, "the most X?".
However, even with the proper verb suffix on {ngu'}, I don't think this sentence works. There is nothing connecting the question part of the sentence to the command part, moreover, when Okrand suggested the use of {ngu'}, it was to replace a non-existent indirect interrogative pronoun, not to use it with a direct interrogative phrase. These to me are two different sentences, that don't really go together to say what qe'San wants to say: "Who is the most tired (in the world)? Identify the guard or the prisoner!"
The limits of a comparative have always come first in the comparative phrase, and I don't think that would change with a question: {qama' avwI' ghap qellu'taHvIS (or wIqeltaHvIS), 'Iv Doy' law' latlh Doy' puS?}, or (to use {-'e'} as an actual topic marker) {qama''e' avwI''e' ghap, 'Iv Doy' law' latlh Doy' puS?}. Or, if you want to keep the command, {qam'a avwI' ghap wIqeltaHvIS, Doy'qu' ghot yIngu'.}
-- ter'eS
