[tlhIngan Hol] Time elements and *qaStaHvIS*, continuous and perfective aspect

[janSIy .]

If you want to say that something was happening continuously over a period of time, but had been completed as of a particular time point, you probably need a more complex explanation in Klingon resembling the explanation I have just given here in English.

Jeremy

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From: tlhIngan-Hol <tlhingan-hol-bounces at lists.kli.org> on behalf of luis.chaparro at web.de <luis.chaparro at web.de>
Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2022 5:36 AM
To: tlhingan-hol at kli.org <tlhingan-hol at kli.org>
Subject: Re: [tlhIngan Hol] Time elements and *qaStaHvIS*, continuous and perfective aspect

SuStel:

>> 1. Is this sentence right in English?: *She had been studying from morning to evening, so the next day she passed the exam with no problem*. If it's a correct sentence, wouldn't here the ongoing action of studying be presented as a whole with a beginning and an end and as complete before the action of passing the exam? Or do you say in English *She had studied* and therefore use *-pu'*?
> She had been studying from morning to evening is the past perfect progressive tense. It describes an action that is continuous from morning to evening. It implies that studying at some point prior to the time context had been ongoing. The past perfect version of this would be She had studied from morning to evening. I'm not sure if this is perfective. I don't think so — it describes the same continuous action from morning to evening. Not being progressive in English doesn't mean it can't be continuous in Klingon.
> In Klingon these would both be
> po ram je qubbID HaDtaH ghaH, jaj veb vaj qaD Qappu' 'ej ngeD qaD.

So, in order to use *-taH* or *-lI'*, it's not necessary that the ongoing action continues after the time context, right? This ongoing action can have taken place *before* the time context, like in the example above, or *after* it.
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