[tlhIngan Hol] does the {-ta'} leave room for interpretation for the {-pu'} ?

mayqel qunen'oS mihkoun at gmail.com
Thu Apr 16 06:00:04 PDT 2020


jIH:
> Meaning that "no intentional hitting took place", and not
> "intentionally, no hitting took place"; now, whether this would leave
> room for interpretation that "unintentional hitting could have taken
> place", which was the original question of this thread, is another
> story.
De'vID:
> No, it actually does mean "no hitting took place". The meanings of {-pu'be'} and
> {-ta'be'} are the same, except that the latter implies the (in)action was intentional.

ok, I understand that.

jIH:
> The only way I can see the "I deliberately did not hit you" meaning
> being produced is by writing {qaqIpbe'ta'}:
De'vID:
> That means "I accomplished not hitting you", which is different from
> "I did not hit you, on purpose" (though the difference is very subtle).

I understand this too. So far so good.

De'vID:
> If {qaqIpta'} is "I hit you (and I did it deliberately)", then {qaqIpta'be'} is
> "I did not hit you (and I did it deliberately)". Arguably, it's ambiguous whether
> the meaning is "I intended not to hit you, and in fact did not hit you" or "I intended
> to hit you, but did not hit you". Perhaps *that* distinction can be indicated by
> context. But the primary action of the negation is to negate the completion or
> accomplishment, not the intention.

ok, I understand this, but here is my problem:

I want to say to say "I did not hit you"; no hitting has taken place,
and the hitting which hasn't taken place is of the intentional kind.
What I mean is: "I didn't (set out to hit you and subsequently hit
you)". How do I say it ?

If I write {qaqIpta'be'}, then it means "I did not hit you, and I did
deliberately". If I write {qaqIppu'be'}, then this includes the
meaning of "I did not hit you, and I did deliberately", but I don't
know of it includes too the meaning which I want to express.

And if I write {chIch qaqIppu'be'}, then seeming/apparently it means
"I intended not to hit you, and in fact did not hit you".

~ mayqel qunen'oS



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