[tlhIngan Hol] verb prefix when the object noun is topicalized by {-'e'} and precedes the adverb

[SuStel]

On 1/19/2022 9:49 AM, Will Martin wrote:
> I’ve always interpreted the wording of this section to be carefully 
> intentional. I’ll add emphasis:
>
> “The adverbial MAY actually follow the object noun…"
>
> That doesn’t suggest that it has to.
>
> My personal interpretation of this is that there could be a subtle 
> layering of emphasis:
>
> DaH HaqwI’ yISam! Find the surgeon now! (Simple command)
>
> DaH HaqwI’’e’ yISam! Find the SURGEON now! (Emphasis on what you need 
> to find)
>
> HaqwI’’e’ DaH yISam! THE SURGEON! FIND THE SURGEON NOW! (I’m talking 
> to you about a surgeon. It’s all about the surgeon. Think surgeon. Not 
> plumber. Not gunner. Surgeon. Surgeon, surgeon, surgeon. Find the 
> friggin’ surgeon NOW.
>
> The next layer of emphasis would be to clip it:
>
> HaqwI’’e’ Sam! (Typically, a line delivered with a disruptor pointed 
> between your eyes.)

I think you're misreading the /may./ It doesn't mean "the adverbial 
might follow the object noun, but it doesn't have to." It means "despite 
the normal order of adverbials before the object, there is a special 
circumstance where the object may come first."

Both forms emphasize the surgeon as the focus. The version with the 
fronted object is more emphatic, not because your need for the surgeon 
is more acute, but because you've isolated the noun by fronting it.

It's the difference between

/Find the SURGEON now!/

and

/The SURGEON! Find him/her now!/

I think it's no coincidence that the version with the fronted object is 
exactly identical to a sentence with the surgeon as a topic with no 
other grammatical role. There's basically no difference between that and 
saying /As for the surgeon, find him/her now!/

-- 
SuStel
http://trimboli.name
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.kli.org/pipermail/tlhingan-hol-kli.org/attachments/20220119/203964f9/attachment-0002.htm>