[tlhIngan Hol] Noun marked with {-'e'} at the beginning of the sentence

[SuStel]

On 5/13/2019 11:49 AM, Daniel Dadap wrote:
>> On May 13, 2019, at 10:25, SuStel<sustel at trimboli.name>  wrote:
>>
>> It has nothing to do with whether it's appeared in a superlative sentence. It's because pronoun sentences already have a correct form, with the topic at the end.
> Another thing to consider is how the topic marker is optional in Morskan pronoun sentences, e.g., {nov 'o vIghro' tIQ}. While you can probably topic-mark and front the ancient cat to make something like {vIghro' tIQ'e' nov 'o}, you almost certainly cannot front the ancient cat without also topicalizing it, e.g., *{vIghro tIQ nov 'o}, which would be just as ungrammatical in Morskan as it is in {ta' Hol}.

He's not suggesting starting with the sentence *nov 'oH vIghro' tIQ'e'* 
and converting it to *vIghro' tIQ'e' nov 'oH;* he's talking about 
constructing the sentence according to the rules we know about building 
sentences. By his suggestion, a Morskan would say *vIghro' tIQ'e' nov 'o.*


> In other words, the {-'e'} in a pronoun-as-copula “to be” sentence is not just a topic marker in Standard Klingon. It’s a necessary part of the pronoun-as-copula formula. So it’s probably not a good idea to treat it like it’s just a topic marker, and it’s very unlikely that {vIghro' tIQ'e' nov 'oH} and {nov 'oH vIghro' tIQ'e'} are equivalent expressions apart from a marked stylistic difference of word order.

Except we're explicitly told otherwise in TKD:

*puqpu' chaH qama'pu''e'*/As for the prisoners, they are children.
/*pa'DajDaq ghaHtaH la''e'*/As for the commander, he is in his quarters./

The *-'e'* may be required, but it still indicates a topic.

-- 
SuStel
http://trimboli.name

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