[tlhIngan Hol] Multiple question words / markers in a sentence

[Felix Malmenbeck]

> We know perfectly well how "direct quotations" and "indirect quotations" work in Klingon:
> everything is a report of the actual speech, or else doesn't use a verb of speech.
>
> qaja'pu' HIqaghQo' I told you not to interrupt me. (TKD)

Not contradicting this, but it's worth noting that there is at least one canonical instance where jatlh has been used to express an indirect quotation:


Those unfit disintegrate

At the glance of Fek'lhr,

So it is said


nuv 'umHa' leghchugh veqlargh

ngoS nuv 'umHa'

net jatlh


(paq'batlh, paq'raD, Canto 1, Stanza 2)


It's from paq'batlh, which we know contains some dubious grammar, but it does seem a rather natural (and useful) expansion of the types of object that jatlh can take; we've long known that jatlh can take a SoQ (http://klingonska.org/canon/1997-06-29b-news.txt) as an object, and paq'batlh uses mu' and lut as the objects of jatlh several times. As such, it doesn't seem like a huge leap that you could also let a statement (marked by 'e' or net) be the object of jatlh.


That being said, the vast majority of quotations we have are direct, which does suggest that those may be the most natural-sounding. This may be another aspect of the "Klingons are often inaccurate, but they are never[ish] approximate." guideline that caused quite a bit of debate recently; quotes are commonly given as though they are being given verbatim, but whether or not they actually are is another matter.


//loghaD


________________________________
From: tlhIngan-Hol <tlhingan-hol-bounces at lists.kli.org> on behalf of SuStel <sustel at trimboli.name>
Sent: Monday, February 18, 2019 20:15
To: tlhingan-hol at lists.kli.org
Subject: Re: [tlhIngan Hol] Multiple question words / markers in a sentence

On 2/18/2019 12:27 PM, Will Martin wrote:
Before Okrand revealed the prefix trick to us, {'etlhlIj HInob} would have, indeed, been ungrammatical Klingon, encoded English. It would have not made sense in the Klingon language.

But Okrand DID reveal the prefix trick to us, and because of that {'etlhlIj HInob} is perfectly grammatical in Klingon.

If he ever reveals to us how indirect quotation works in Klingon, the same will be true of your double-question, assuming that your version of how the grammar works matches whatever he comes up with. Before we knew how to use direct quotations, we had no grammar for it, and likely had we guessed, we would not have come up with what Okrand revealed to us, so earlier guesses would almost certainly be wrong. And yes, we spent years working with the language before we had any hint as to the grammar of how to make direct quotations.

We know perfectly well how "direct quotations" and "indirect quotations" work in Klingon: everything is a report of the actual speech, or else doesn't use a verb of speech.

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

Literally it's I told you, "Don't interrupt me!" but it's also used in situations where in English one wouldn't quote someone else's exact words. If it's not a verb of speech, then it's something like this: qaqaghbe'pu' 'e' Datlhob You requested that I not interrupt you. Here, I'm not reporting your speech.

"Direct quotations" are explained in TKD; we did not spend years before he had a hint of how to use them.

--
SuStel
http://trimboli.name
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