[tlhIngan Hol] rIntaH and be-verbs

[SuStel]

On 1/28/2020 9:35 AM, mayqel qunen'oS wrote:
> This is all very interesting, and it clarifies many things I've been
> wondering about aspect for years..
>
> But I've been wondering, with regards to how the {-moH} fits in all
> this. Please read the following sentences, and tell me if you would
> agree with the way I understand what they actually mean:
>
> DevwI' vIQuchmoHpu'
> I have caused the leader to be happy, but that happiness is over

No, it means I caused the leader to be happy, and now my causing that is 
over. In other words, my action of making the leader happy is complete. 
Whether the leader is still happy or not is not mentioned.


> DevwI' vIQuchchoHmoHpu'
> I have caused the leader to be happy, and this state of happiness
> continuous. It hasn't ended.

No, it means I caused the leader to start to be happy, and my causing it 
is completed. Whether the leader is still happy or not is not mentioned.

The difference between these two sentences is very slight: it's the 
difference between causing something and causing something to start.


> And there's something else, I'm wondering too..
>
> SuStel:
>> jIQuch rIntaH
>> I set out to be happy and accomplished
>> being happy, and that happiness is over forever.
> I can't understand the "is over forever" part of the translation. Does
> the sentence {jIQuch rIntaH} exclude the possibility that the speaker
> of the sentence, can become again happy at some other time ?

I revised my analysis after Lieven made a suggestion. It should be 
interpreted as me setting out to be happy, achieving happiness, and then 
that particular happiness ends. The *rIntaH* adds the connotation that 
the happiness I once had cannot be undone. It doesn't mean there cannot 
be future happiness, just that that particular happiness is achieved and 
done. Imagine, for instance, someone going to an amusement park for the 
express purpose of being happy. They go, they have a great time, they 
leave. The happiness is over, but it was very satisfying. To lend weight 
to the statement, the person adds *rIntaH* to mean that the happiness 
experienced that day cannot be undone. /Whatever happens next, I had fun 
today./

But it's really not clear whether Klingons would use *rIntaH* on a verb 
of quality. I'm just analyzing what it would mean if it were allowed. 
There's no rule against it, but there's no real indication that it would 
be used, either.

-- 
SuStel
http://trimboli.name

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