[tlhIngan Hol] Expressing location and “prettier than all others” / Hoch DechtaH tI nIl

[SuStel]

On 6/12/2018 8:37 AM, Daniel Dadap wrote:
> 1) IIUC the generally expected way to express that noun Y is in/on/at noun X is {(X)Daq 'oHtaH (Y)'e'}. How acceptable or unacceptable is it to abbreviate this to {(X)Daq (Y)}?

I would accept it as clipped Klingon, but not as formally grammatical 
Klingon.


> 2) Would {(X) (Y) law' Hoch latlhmey (Y) puS} mean that X is more Y than all other Xes, or that X is more Y than all other things, not limited to other Xes? I’m trying to express the former meaning without having to do {(X) (Y) law' Hoch (X)mey (Y) puS} every time, partly because being able to use {latlh} in every verse strengthens the formula, and partly because it’s already slightly awkward to accommodate different syllable counts for the different X items that appear in the verses.

/More than all others/ is just another way to say /most,/ and that's the 
superlative construction.

*HoD Dun law' Hoch Dun puS.
*/The captain is the greatest./

If you want to put the superlative in context, you can model a line from 
/Star Trek V/ and get:

*SuvwI''e' HoD Dun law' Hoch Dun puS.
*/The captain is the greatest warrior.
As for warriors, the captain is the greatest./

Or you can just rely on context to make the superlative clear:

*Dun Hoch SuvwI'pu' 'ach le'bej HoDma'. Devchu'. baHDI' not baHHa'. 
tlheDnISchugh reH pe'vIl chegh. HoDma' Dun law' Hoch Dun puS.*

Technically speaking, I don't see anything wrong with saying *HoD Dun 
law' Hoch latlh SuvwI'pu' Dun puS*/The captain is greater than all other 
warriors,/ but we're given rules for the superative, and the alternative 
is more complicated to say, so why not use what Okrand gave us?
**


-- 
SuStel
http://trimboli.name

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