[tlhIngan Hol] Placement of the qatlh

[Lieven L. Litaer]

Am 18.02.2019 um 15:15 schrieb mayqel qunenoS:
> "Why in order for you to help me, I need to feed your cat ?"

Well, let's st aside the intended meaning of that, because I think 
that's not how -meH works.

> When it comes to klingon, which of the following is the correct choice ?
> 
> {qatlh choQaHmeH vIghro'lIj vIje'nIS ?}
> {choQaHmeH qatlh vIghro'lIj vIje'nIS ?}

My first thought here is that the clause with {-meH} must always precede 
the verb whose purpose it's describing, but there is no information on 
whether anything can be between those.

In my opinion, the {qatlh} should preceed the entire phrase because it's 
questioning the entire thing. I think having it in the middle breaks up 
the connection between the purpose clause and the second part. Taken 
more literally, one could argue that is sounds like one is saying 
{choQaHmeH qatlh} "a why to help me" which seems nonsense, if not 
focusing on the rest.

Sticking closely to the rules:
  - The purpose clause always precedes the noun or verb whose purpose it 
is describing.
  - qatlh "occurs at the beginning of the sentence."

But still ... both suggestions sound right to me, so it's a really good 
question. I'm curious to see what others find about this. :-)

-- 
Lieven L. Litaer
aka the "Klingon Teacher from Germany"
http://www.klingonisch.de
http://www.klingonwiki.net/En/Questions