[tlhIngan Hol] Does rIntaH require a sentient being ?

nIqolay Q niqolay0 at gmail.com
Sat Mar 9 12:27:54 PST 2019


While we don't have an example of *rIntaH* with an overt subject, we do
have another data point we can use. When Okrand describes the tag question
*qar'a'*, he says it can "follow the verb", the same phrase he uses to
describe the placement of *rIntaH*. And we do have an example of *qar'a'*
followed by an explicit subject: *De' Sov qar'a' HoD* *The captain knows
the information, right? *Since Okrand describes both constructions as
"following the verb", it seems reasonable to me to conclude that (for
example) *De' Sov rIntaH HoD* *The captain knows the information for good*
is the proper use of *rIntaH*.



On Sat, Mar 9, 2019 at 1:50 AM De'vID <de.vid.jonpin at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> On Fri, 8 Mar 2019 at 22:51, Will Martin <willmartin2 at mac.com> wrote:
>
>> Doing it as {vIje’ rIntaH jIH} only makes sense if, given that written
>> Klingon as we know it is phonetic spelling of spoken Klingon, somehow
>> {rIntaH} has become a Type 10 suffix, so it always follows the verb and its
>> other suffixes, and any subject would follow it. Otherwise, I see no
>> justification for {rIntaH jIH}, since as a sentence, it would have to be
>> {jIrIntaH jIH}.
>>
>
> If it's acting like a suffix, then it's surely acting like a type 7,
> namely, the {-ta'} that it's replacing. Since we have no examples of a type
> 8 ({-neS}) or type 9 following {rIntaH}, and the way we write Klingon is a
> phonetic transcription of how it's spoken, {vIje' rIntaH jIH} might as well
> be {vIje'rIntaH jIH} where {-rIntaH} is a two-syllable type 7 suffix.
> Indeed, since {ta'} "accomplish" and {taH} "continue" are verbs, one might
> speculate that they were verbs which became suffixes. Perhaps {rIntaH} is
> undergoing a similar evolution, but has resisted full assimilation as a
> suffix because it's two syllables.
>
> But until we have a canon (counter)example either way, we can't tell.
>
> --
> De'vID
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