[tlhIngan Hol] Hoch context law' puS construction

mayqel qunenoS mihkoun at gmail.com
Tue Dec 27 06:29:17 PST 2016


ok, I understand your comments.

however, let me ask you something further on this subject..

as we said, there are two kinds of law' puS constructions; the comparative
and the superlative (which utilizes the {Hoch}).

I understand the issues, which arise when at the superlative version of the
law' puS, we provide context to the {Hoch}. And I really liked the way you
described, of working around these issues by the use of {-'e'}.

but if our intention is to use the law' puS in its comparative form, then
would you accept in the formula: {A X law' B X puS}, the {B} (singular or
plural) being in relation to a {Hoch} (either before, or after) ?

with our intention being to form a comparative, would you accept {A X law'
Hoch B(mey) X puS}, or {A X law' B(mey) Hoch X puS} ?

or do you think that the above would/could be confusing ?

qunnoH jan puqloD
ghoghwIj HablI'vo' vIngeHta'
SuvwI'pu'qoq Hol tughojmoHta'mo' Satlho'

On 27 Dec 2016 4:14 pm, "SuStel" <sustel at trimboli.name> wrote:

> 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.*)
>
> --
> SuStelhttp://trimboli.name
>
>
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>
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