[tlhIngan Hol] Placement of the qatlh

[SuStel]

On 2/18/2019 10:08 AM, Lieven L. Litaer wrote:
> Am 18.02.2019 um 15:58 schrieb SuStel:
> Yes, this is a murky area of Klingon grammar :-)
>
>> Except we know that sometimes when Okrand says /sentence/ he means 
>> the verbal clause under consideration. 
>
> Yes, of course.
>
>> You would not, for instance, translate /I ask why I was chosen/ as 
>> *qatlh jIjatlh vIwIvlu'pu'?* A sentence-as-object is still a 
>> sentence, but you'd put the *qatlh* with the piece it belongs with: 
>> *jIjatlh qatlh vIwIvlu'pu'; qatlh vIwIvlu'pu' jIjatlh.*
>
> I agree with that example, but I think it's different from what mayqel 
> asked.

I am choosing examples that are deliberately different, to try to 
illustrate the issues involved.


> And using jatlh gets us a lot more into trouble. First, {jatlh} is 
> such a special situation, and next, you are using the word "why" not 
> as a question word, but in a way that it changes a question to a 
> statement.
>
> There's a difference between "I ask why I was chosen." and "I ask: why 
> was I chosen?"

Not in Klingon. Much has been made of "direct quotations" by certain 
people, but Klingon happily uses so-called direct quotations where 
English will use so-called "indirect quotations."

    *qaja'pu' HIqaghQo' *or *HIqaghQo' qaja'pu**'* /I told you not to
    interrupt me. /(TKD)/
    /

Here, Okrand is in no way interested in maintaining any difference 
between /I told you not to interrupt me/ and /I told you, "Don't 
interrupt me!"
/

I didn't have to use *jatlh* to make an example, though. *nuq ta'pu' 'ej 
qatlh ta'pu'*/What did he do and why did he do it?/ Compound sentences 
are sentences, and if we were to follow the rules too closely, we would 
be considering *qatlh nuq ta'pu' 'ej ta'pu',* which is obviously wrong.

-- 
SuStel
http://trimboli.name

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