[87155] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: The topic marker -'e'
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (ghunchu'wI')
Wed Nov 25 17:24:42 2009
In-Reply-To: <a1173fff0911251044i6654e50fof65cb0a6aeb8687b@mail.gmail.com>
From: "ghunchu'wI'" <qunchuy@alcaco.net>
Date: Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:21:27 -0500
To: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
Errors-to: tlhingan-hol-bounce@kli.org
Reply-to: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
On Nov 25, 2009, at 1:44 PM, Christopher Doty wrote:
>> Now take any verb of quality in Klingon and put {-lu'} on it. Try to
>> translate it into English using passive voice. Most of the time you
>> will fail.
>>
>> {bIr} "he is cold"
>> {bIrlu'} "...?"
>
> Yeah, but you can't do this in English either, as you note with your
> lack of translation. "He is colded (by the wind)" is nonsensical.
"Either"? I think you misunderstood what I was trying to say. You
*can* do it in Klingon, but its translation into English does not
involve passive voice. My point is that you can't translate {bIrlu'}
into English as passive voice.
-- ghunchu'wI'
