[tlhIngan Hol] expressing more than x years ago

[SuStel]

On 8/7/2020 10:03 AM, mayqel qunen'oS wrote:
> SuStel:
>> qaSpa' loS ben before four years ago occurs
> I'm slightly confused with this. Shouldn't the {loS ben} as a time
> stamp be always the first element in a sentence (i.e. without being
> preceded by a verb) ?

This isn't a "time stamp." It's a subordinate clause. The *loS ben* is 
the subject of the verb *qaSpa'.* Remember, *ben* /years ago /is a noun 
in Klingon and may be used as such.


>   Could I indeed say the following ?
>
> qaSpa' loS ben, tlhIngan Hol vIghojmoHpu'
> I started learning klingon more than four years ago


Yes, though you've got some errors there, and in general I'd expect any 
such sentence to be reporting the /completed/ event of four years ago 
occurring.

*qaSpu'pa' loS ben, tlhIngan Hol vIghojchoHpu'.
*/I started to learn Klingon more than four years ago.
/Literally, /Before four years ago occurred, I started to learn Klingon./

That's not to say *qaSpa'* always has to have perfective added to it. 
"Let me take you back in your memory. It's more than four years ago, and..."

-- 
SuStel
http://trimboli.name

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