[tlhIngan Hol] placement of question words with regards to a {-'e'}ed noun

mayqel qunen'oS mihkoun at gmail.com
Tue Apr 28 06:22:43 PDT 2020


SuStel:
> I have no problem at all with allowing
> qatlh and chay', which work just like adverbials

I'm afraid I can't understand this. Why do the {qatlh} and {chay'}
work like adverbials ? How can a question word work like an adverb ?

Anyways, there are still questions with regards to this matter..

Even if the {chay'} and {qatlh} can indeed follow a noun marked with {-'e'}..

1. Is there a rule prohibiting their being placed before it? Is there
a rule which forbids us writing: {qatlh 'avwI''e' Dachotpu'?}?

The only issue which I can think of, is that when we write {'avwI''e
qatlh Dachotpu'?} the translation goes "as for the guard, why did you
murder him?". But if we write {qatlh 'avwI''e' Dachotpu'?} then the
meaning becomes "why did you murder *the guard*?". i.e. instead of the
"as for.." we have an emphasis.

Of course, one could wonder, whether we could have a noun marked with
{-'e'} in the object slot, without playing the role of the object, but
acting as a "as for.." noun. Perhaps, *this* is the most important
question here. And if anyone knows the answer, then please do tell me.

2. What happens when the question word is {ghorgh} or {nuqDaq}?

Do we write {ghorgh 'avwI''e' Dachotpu'?} or do we write {'avwI''e'
ghorgh Dachotpu'?}?

Do we write {nuqDaq 'avwI''e' Dachotpu'?} or do we write {'avwI''e'
nuqDaq Dachotpu'?}?

The same comments apply with regards to the alternate possible
translations when the {'avwI''e'} is placed after the question words,
as in 1.

~ mayqel qunen'oS
the ancient cat I want alive
the rest I'll grind beneath my boot



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