[tlhIngan Hol] matlh juppu' mu'mey, from HolQeD 8-3, pages 2-4

mayqel qunenoS mihkoun at gmail.com
Wed Jun 22 10:19:26 PDT 2016


I wanted to discuss some things after I would have finished
klingonska, but I noticed something in a voragh sentence, which
puzzled me greatly ;

Before I start, I will make a trick question :

As far as the behavior of adverbs is concerned, they are all the same,
right ? Is there a difference between {tlhoy} and {chaq} ?

So, hold that thought, and while you're holding that thought, let us
read together the following excerpt provided by 'oqranD :

matlh juppu' mu'mey, from HolQeD 8-3, pages 2-4
http://klingonska.org/canon/1999-09-holqed-08-3.txt

-----START-----

2. too much

     The adverbial {tlhoy} means
<overly, to an excessive degree>. It is used
in such sentences as:

{tlhoy jISop}
I eat too much / I eat excessively

{tlhoy bIQong}
you sleep too much /
you sleep excessively

     When {tlhoy} is used, it denotes
that the action expressed by the verb
({Sop} <eat>, {Qong} <sleep>) is what is being
overly done or done too much.
Thus, the sentence:

{tlhoy qagh vISop}
I eat too much gagh /
I eat gagh excessively /
I overeat gagh

expresses the notion that the eating
is excessive, not that the amount of
gagh is. (Note that although it is
possible to say this, it is not
something anybody would be likely

to ever say). Similarly,
{tlhoy yIHmey vIlegh}

I see too many tribbles [[p.3]]
means <I overly see tribbles> (perhaps
this could be used if one meant
something like "I see tribbles far too
frequently and in far too many
places"). To express the idea of "too
much gagh" or "too many tribbles,"
the verb {'Iq} <be too many, be too much>
is used adjectivally. For example:

{yIHmey 'Iq vIlegh}
I see too many tribbles

{qagh 'Iq vISop}
I eat too much gagh

     Sometimes, the word {law'qu'} <be
very many> (formed from {law'} <be
many> plus {-qu'}, the emphatic suffix)
is translated "be too many." If the
context is clear, this is acceptable,
but if it is important to stress the
idea of "overly many, overly much,
more than there ought to be," {tlhoy}
or {'Iq} is usually employed.

-----END-----

The way I process all this, is that the adverb refers to the verb of
the sentence.

So, now, let us look the sentence that the canon master provided for
us at the "Disturbing irregularities" thread :

chaq SoHvo' vay' vIje' vIneH
[Maybe I'd like to buy something from you.] PK

This sentence is a SAO, utilizing {neH} and of course omitting the
{'e'}. So far so good. A SAO construction is two sentences. The
sentence before the {'e'} and the sentence after it.

Adverbs, time stamps and indirect objects which refer to the second
sentence are placed just before the {'e'}, or just before the {neH}.

After all this, I would expect in the voragh sentence the {chaq} to be
placed just before the {vIneH}, in order to express the "maybe I'd
like to buy".

The way, it is given, I read "I want to perhaps buy something from
you". Not "perhaps I'd like to buy something from you".

Maybe the difference is insignificant, but I believe that in the
strict sense of the rules, the {chaq} should be placed before the
{vIneH}.

mIv Hurgh qunnoq



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