[tlhIngan Hol] {net jalchugh} and the various "then"

[nIqolay Q]

On Mon, Apr 29, 2019 at 9:53 AM mayqel qunen'oS <mihkoun at gmail.com> wrote:

> I get the impression, that the time is implied from the {ngugh} and
> {ghIq}. Isn't it so ?
>

{ngugh} and {ghIq} make reference to other times that have been stated, but
they don't really imply times on their own.

> Since {ngugh} points to or refers back to a previously
> established time reference, if that time reference is not
> clear (or is missing), an utterance containing {ngugh}
> would not make much sense.  If someone asks "When?" after
> hearing a sentence containing {ngugh}, unless the question
> resulted from inattentiveness, {ngugh} was probably used
> inappropriately.
>
> http://klingonska.org/canon/1999-11-05-news.txt

{jImIp} on its own doesn't really establish a time reference. It's a
stative verb, so it describes an ongoing state rather than an event or
occurence. It doesn't include any tense or aspect information. It could
refer to a point in time, like if I find a hundred dollar bill lying on the
ground and I say {jImIp!}. Or it could refer to some general ongoing state
of wealth. Bill Gates has been rich since at least the nineties and will
probably continue to be so for the foreseeable future. If Bill Gates said
{jImIp. ngugh vIghro' tIQ vIje'.}, when would {ngugh} refer to? The day he
became a millionaire? The day he became a billionaire? Yesterday? Today?
Tomorrow? He's rich at all those times. {ngugh} wouldn't have a clear time
reference to work with.

In the case of {ghIq}, the canon examples I can think of don't use stative
verbs. {jImIp. ghIq vIghro' tIQ vIje'.} seems like it would mean "I am
rich, and then after I'm rich (and am not rich anymore), I buy an ancient
cat." (Assuming the listener got any meaning from it at all, instead of
simply saying {nuqjatlh?})

Turning {jImIp} into a reference to a specific event, like your earlier
idea of {jImIpchoH}, would make it clearer in both cases.
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