[90062] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: [Tlhingan-hol] Negative polarity questions in Klingon
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Philip Newton)
Wed Oct 12 05:51:27 2011
In-Reply-To: <CAFK8js2wA_dvJT2iAO3oPFiszyLxC9zmzQPn_i=cyEFtvXnpNg@mail.gmail.com>
From: Philip Newton <philip.newton@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2011 11:50:35 +0200
To: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
Errors-To: tlhingan-hol-bounces@stodi.digitalkingdom.org
On Mon, Oct 10, 2011 at 16:37, ghunchu'wI' 'utlh <qunchuy@alcaco.net> wrote:
> That's exactly how I would
> respond in Klingon to what you've labeled as a negative polarity
> question.
>
> Q: chopbe''a'?
> A: chop.
That's a method that hadn't occurred to me when I asked the question,
but I agree that it's very useful.
I think I'd call this the Irish method :) Since as I understand it,
Irish (like Latin and some other languages) doesn't use "yes" or "no"
but either something like "it is (not) so" (=E0 la {qar}) or - perhaps
more commonly - repeat the main verb as a response. This, apparently,
also characteristically affects Hiberno-English, even in speakers who
have no Irish themselves.
It's almost certainly the clearest alternative.
- Hide quoted text -
Cheers,
Philip
--
Philip Newton <philip.newton@gmail.com>
_______________________________________________
Tlhingan-hol mailing list
Tlhingan-hol@stodi.digitalkingdom.org
http://stodi.digitalkingdom.org/mailman/listinfo/tlhingan-hol
