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

[luis.chaparro at web.de]

SuStel:

> I think you misunderstand. The Klingon version set in the future is also a completed whole with no internal structure. wa'leS rep wa'maH loS jISoppu' Tomorrow I will have eaten at 2 pm is describing the eating as a completed whole and is not describing its flow over time.

I understand it, that's clear to me. I'm afraid I'm not being able to express myself correctly in English.

> The Klingon sentence verb jISoppu' refers to an act of eating that is completed and does not have its flow over time detailed, whether the act takes place in the past, present, or future. In English, we can express jISoppu' in the past as I ate, I have eaten, or I had eaten, depending on whether and when the status of having eaten is important; in the present as I have eaten; and in the future as I will have eaten.

That's what I'm trying to say: In the past, you have in English a non-perfect form (*I ate*) and two perfect forms (*I have eaten* and *I had eaten*) to express *jISoppu'*. The non-perfect form doesn't express that the action takes place before another point in time for which the result of the action is relevant. In the future, you only have in English a perfect form (*I will have eaten*), but I was wondering if there could be for the future an interpretation similar to *I ate*, perfective but not perfect, even though this cannot be expressed by English future tenses.