[tlhIngan Hol] Clarifying the {'e'}

mayqel qunenoS mihkoun at gmail.com
Sun Dec 4 02:23:01 PST 2016


the reason which makes me daily inflict on this list, every possible
subject I am able to think of, is because I'm hoping through writing
klingon to discover areas of grammar that continue to elude me..

yesterday, this goal was achieved when at another thread the following
sentence was written:

SuStel:
> *qo'vam'e' yInvam'e' je jIH mubechmoH bIH*
> *as for this world and life, they make me suffer*

at first I wasn't able to understand it, but as soon as I read SuStel's
explanation (and realized what's going on), I was shocked to realize how
ignorant I was with regards to the true nature of {'e'}.

So, I want to discuss this further..

pelaD !

So far, I knew that nouns carrying a type-5 suffix are always placed at the
beginning of the sentence. Words carrying the {-vaD}, {-Daq}, {-vo'},
{-mo'}.. And I could certainly understand the reason. But I never had
considered a noun carrrying the {-'e'}, being put at the start..

In fact, until yesterday, the only uses of the {'e'} I was aware of were:

1. to emphasize a noun, regardless its position in the sentence.
2. to clarify in a sentence with the {-bogh} who does what to whom.
3. its role in nouns which would follow the {'oH} and the {ghaH}.

So far so good..

but when I read SuStel's sentence, my world came upside down. lets read it
again:

SuStel:
> *qo'vam'e' yInvam'e' je jIH mubechmoH bIH*
> *as for this world and life, they make me suffer*

I began to ask myself: what's happening here ? we have nouns put at the
beginning of the sentence carrying the {'e'}, and as a result obtaing the
translation "as for the (noun)..". And as a result of this translation, the
rest of the sentence starts to revolve around this/these nouns.

So, if my understanding of this use of {'e'} is correct, I can write:

SoSlI''e' vIghro'lIj HoHta'
as for your mother, she killed your cat

vIghro''e' bo'DeghDaj Sopta'
as for the cat, it ate his bird

SoH'e', verengan Ha'DIbaH SoH.
as for you, you're a ferengi dog.

So, I would like to ask:

SuStel (or anyone else), are the above sentences correct ? is my
understanding of this use of {'e'} correct ?

because if it is, oh if it is ! I will explode from happiness having
discovered something entirely new, which I've been ignoring during my
entire klingon life ! (as short yet fruitful as it may be..) hehehe

qunnoH jan puqloD
ghoghwIj HablI'vo' vIngeHta'
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