[97] in tlhIngan-Hol
more intonation, questions
dcctdw@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (dcctdw@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Sun Feb 16 15:22:57 1992
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Reply-To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
From: mark@cc.gatech.edu (Mark J. Reed)
To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 9:21:48 EST
Something came up in conversation last night that got me thinking about
this. In English, questions are frequently not in question form; rather they
are in statement form, and only the intonation (or punctuation) indicates that
they are questions. In my case, at least, this usage is a reflection of how
sure I am of the answer. For example:
English Klingon
1. Are you Maltz? matlh SoH'a'?
Honest question; speaker assumes nothing about the answer.
2. You are Maltz? matlh SoH?
Speaker suspects that the answer to the question is "yes". (un
less
emphasis or intonation indicates disbelief, e.g. "*You* are *Maltz*?!?")
3. You are Maltz, right? matlh SoH, qar'a'?
Speaker is pretty sure that the answer is "yes".
4. You are Maltz. matlh SoH.
Bald statement of fact. Of course, it could be further modifie
d by
-bej or -law' to modulate the certainty in either direction.
Depending on the speaker, the relative positions of 2 and 3 might be reversed,
but my question is about #2. Is this legal in Klingon? I note that the abilit
y
to use this form depends on Klingon intonation, which in the movies is that of
English. In writing, it depends on our convention of using English
punctuation, even though the Dictionary uses none.
Comments?
--
Mark J. Reed "qabwIj yIba' 'ej banglI' jIH HIja' . .
."
<mark@cc.gatech.edu> -montI' paItlhon
