[tlhIngan Hol] using "right" (side) and "left" (side) with possessive suffixes on their own

[Steven Boozer]

I found some things in my notes you may find instructive:

(MSN expert.forum 9/1997):  As for how to use {Sum} "be near, nearby" -- that will require some more time with Maltz.  {Do' Sum matlh}.  I would think, however, that it would work the same way as {Hop} "be far".

Okrand eventually found Maltz and a year later he discussed the issue with Will Martin (HolQeD, Dec. 1998: p. 9-10):

   MO: 	Using the verbs {Sum} and {Hop} involves this concept [of deixis]. 
   WM: 	So I could not say {raSvam vISum} to say, "I am near the table".
   MO: 	No. You'd just say {Sum raS}.  The verb {Sum} implies that the speaker
	is the one the subject is near at the time of speaking. 
		Hop jabwI'. 	The waiter is far from me right now. 
   WM: 	Well, that resolves the conflict otherwise created if they could take 
	objects. It keeps them stative, so you can say, {HIvje' Sum yItlhap}.
   MO: 	Yes.
   WM: 	Otherwise, they'd be the only verbs we'd sometimes use as adjectives 
	and other times use transitively.
   MO: 	Take an object. Yes.
   WM:	So, could that deictic anchor be shifted by using an indirect object? 
	Like if I wanted to say, "You are near the table", could I say 
	{SoHvaD Sum raS}? 
   MO: 	No.  You'd use {-Daq}:  {SoHDaq Sum raS}.  This throws the orientation 
	away from the speaker (unmarked, unstated) and to the listener 
	(marked, stated: "at you, where you are").  But you don't always need 
	to state this overtly.  Context is critical.  For example:  {qagh largh SuvwI' 
	ghung.  Sum qagh 'e' Sov}.  "The hungry warrior smells the gagh. He/she 
	knows the gagh is nearby."  The only interpretation of this (absent other 
	information) is that the warrior knows the gagh is near the warrior, not 
	the warrior knows the gagh is near the speaker of the sentences. If 
	context isn't clear, you can clarify: 
	     Question: Sum'a' raS?        	      	Is the table near (me)? 
					      	(Am I near the table?) 
	     Answer:    HIja'. Sum raS.    	       	Yes. The table is near (you). 
	     Answer:    ghobe'. jIHDaq Sum raS.	No. The table is near me. 
   WM:  	And could I say {maSumchuq}? 
   MO: 	No.  You'd just say {bISum} or {SuSum}.  If you haven't, in the course of 
	the conversation, set things up otherwise, it's assumed that the event 
	being talked about is taking place where the speaker is. In fact, {jISum} 
	alone probably would make no everyday sense to a Klingon.  "I am near 
	me."  But it does have an idiomatic philosophical sense, something like 
	"I'm in touch with my inner self" (but in a Klingon sort of way, of course).

And a later note:

(qurgh < MO, qep’a’ 2017): [{Hay} "area beyond" (n.) is] normally used with a point of reference:  beyond X.  When asked about "area nearby" Maltz wasn’t sure what was being asked and said to make use of the verb {Sum} "be nearby".

--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

-----Original Message----------Original Message----------Original Message----------Original Message
From: mayqel qunen'oS
Sent: Friday, October 2, 2020 7:25 AM

Ca'Non mu'tlheghvam yIlaD:

   poSDaq nIHDaq je QamtaHvIS SuvwI'pu', chaH jojDaq yItnIS lopwI'
   The initiate must pass through a gauntlet of warriors. S9

'ej tera' poH DaSjaj, jar wa'maH, jaj wa'maH loSDIch, DIS cha'-pagh-wa'-Hut (14 October 2019) lInpu' voragh:

(Qov, reporting on qep'a' 2015, 8/05/2015): I asked [Okrand] about how we would describe someone’s right hand. I said I would say {nIHwIj ghop} "the hand of my right side" and he said "I would do that too,"
making a dissatisfied face about the alternative {nIH ghopwIj} "my hand of the right side". I asked "or are {nIH} and {poS} like {tlhop} and {‘em}, taking the pronoun rather than the possessive suffix?" but he felt that {nIHwIj} was correct.

DaH jIghel..

jIjatlh vIneH "one of you will stand on my left, and one of you will stand on my right"; cha' DuH tu'lu':

DuH wa':
poSwIjDaq QamnIS wa', 'ej nIHwIjDaq QamnIS latlh one needs to stand on my left, and the other needs to stand on my right

DuH cha':
poSwIj DaqDaq QamnIS wa', 'ej poSwIj DaqDaq QamnIS latlh one needs to stand at the location of my left, and the other needs to stand at the location of my right

nuq 'oH DuH lugh'e'? lugh DuH wa' 'e' vI'ir, S9 Ca'Non mu'tlhegh vIqeltaHvIS, 'ach lugh DuH cha' 'e' vI'Ir, 08/05/2015 De'
vIqeltaHvIS..

~ Qa'yIn