[tlhIngan Hol] can I say {jaghpu' chaH chaH'e'} ?
SuStel
sustel at trimboli.name
Wed Jan 22 12:06:22 PST 2020
On 1/22/2020 1:52 PM, Will Martin wrote:
> I like the analysis in this discussion. I’ve always thought that
> pronouns were not the verb “to be”. Klingon lacks the verb “to be”.
> It’s just that Klingons use pronouns in a way that we would translate
> as the verb “to be”.
>
> It was pointed out that pronouns can use verbal suffixes, but remember
> that only a very limited set of verbal suffixes are allowed. We could
> probably use ANY verbal suffix if pronouns were ever to function as
> actual verbs. Also, the {-‘e’} on the final noun would be unnecessary
> if the pronoun were acting as an actual verb.
>
> The real point here is that the grammar for pronouns used as “to be”
> is like the grammar for comparatives: It is unique within the language
> with its own special rules and limits. You can’t take the grammar of a
> normal Klingon sentence and try to apply it to sentences built around
> pronouns used as we understand the verb “to be”.
>
> It’s as if it were something from some other language altogether,
> snipped and dropped into Klingon, without reference to Klingon’s other
> rules of grammar.
>
> If you want to make weird but arguably not illegal constructions, you
> can, but that won’t make them not weird.
lughchu' Hoch Dajatlhpu'bogh 'ej jIQochbe'chu'.
SoH 'Iv, 'ej nuqDaq 'oHtaH charghwI' ngebHa''e'?
--
SuStel
http://trimboli.name
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