[tlhIngan Hol] Hoch context law' puS construction
SuStel
sustel at trimboli.name
Tue Dec 27 06:13:40 PST 2016
On 12/27/2016 6:26 AM, mayqel qunenoS wrote:
> lets assume a simple sentence:
>
> la' Dun law' Hoch Dun puS
> the greatest commander of them all
>
> Can the {Hoch} have context ? And if you wonder what I mean, here it is:
>
> la' Dun law' jogh Hoch la'pu' Dun puS
> the greatest commander of all commanders of the quadrant
>
> la' Dun law' Hoch la'pu' vIghompu'bogh Dun puS
> the greatest commander of all commanders I have met
>
> HoSDaj ngay'Daj je Dun law' Hoch novpu' HoS ngay' je Dun puS
> his power and glory were greater than the power and glory of all aliens
>
> are the above sentences correct ?
Common wisdom says they are. I have begun to question common wisdom on this.
I think there are two distinct *law'/puS* constructions, disregarding
the numerous variations we've gotten over the years: the comparative and
the superlative. I have begun to think that the superlative is invariant
in its B noun phrase: /*A Q */*law' Hoch*/*Q */*puS,* and nothing but
*Hoch* can be in the B position for it to remain superlative.
Our only example of how to give context to the superlative is our old
friend from /Star Trek V:/ *qIbDaq SuvwI''e' SoH Dun law' Hoch Dun
puS*/you would be the greatest warrior in the galaxy./ Notice that this
is not *qIbDaq SoH Dun law' Hoch SuvwI'pu' Dun puS*/you would be greater
than all the warriors in the galaxy./ This latter is not a superlative,
it is a comparative, and it kind of assumes that the addressee is not
actually one of "all warriors." You might stick a *latlh* in there to
signify /other/ warriors, but the point remains: this is not actually a
superlative.
Okrand used the topic suffix to provide the context. Let's do that with
your examples.
*jogh la'pu''e' la' Dun law' Hoch Dun puS
*/the commander is the greatest quadrant commander/
*la'pu''e' vIghompu'bogh la' Dun law' Hoch Dun puS
*/the commander is the greatest commander I have met/
*novpu' HoS'e' ngay''e' je ghaH Dun law' Hoch Dun puS
*/his alien power and glory are the greatest/
(And remember that /great/ here means /wonderful,/ not /large./)
--
SuStel
http://trimboli.name
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