[tlhIngan Hol] Using -ta' during -taHvIS

SuStel sustel at trimboli.name
Mon Feb 25 13:30:26 PST 2019


On 2/25/2019 3:42 PM, Will Martin wrote:
> Is feeding a cat really that much of an accomplishment? Is it that 
> important to point out that you had planned feeding the cat as your 
> goal and that you successfully reached that goal? If so, then by all 
> means, use {-ta’}.

*-ta'* has nothing to do with your sense of accomplishment. It has to do 
with whether you did something intentionally. If you did, you have the 
option of using either *-pu'* or *-ta'* (or *rIntaH* if the completion 
was particularly final).

*vIghro' vIje'ta'*/I fed at the cat./ It wasn't a particularly momentous 
occasion, but I intentionally fed the cat and completed my feeding of 
the cat.


> Why bother with a suffix if it doesn’t really add much to the meaning? 
> It’s okay to omit it. I don’t have to explain to you why I omitted it. 
> I did not make a mistake by omitting it. I would not have made a 
> mistake by including it. It’s my choice. I can say it the way I want 
> to say it.

Incorrect. Omitting a type 7 suffix on a verb explicitly means the 
action is not continuous and not perfective. It doesn't add optional 
meaning; if you are describing a completed action, you need a perfective 
suffix on it.

*vIghro' vIje'* /I feed the cat./ From whatever vantage point I am 
describing this sentence, I am describing a non-continuous, 
non-completed action. For instance, a statement that, as the cat's 
owner, I feed the cat isn't a continuous action (I'm not doing it 
nonstop if I'm not Jon Arbuckle) or a completed action (I'm still the 
cat's owner and I still feed it). For another instance, if I'm telling a 
story, and in the moment described I feed the cat, then in that moment 
the feeding is neither continuous nor completed. *(jIvem, jItuQ'eghmoH, 
vIghro' vIje', puchpa' vISuch...)*

But one thing that *vIghro' vIje'* cannot mean is that there was this 
one time I'm looking back on in which I fed a cat. For that you /must/ 
include perfective.


-- 
SuStel
http://trimboli.name

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