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

[Will Martin]

I think you may be misreading my misreading of “may”. What you say sounds like what I meant.

> On Jan 19, 2022, at 10:03 AM, SuStel <sustel at trimboli.name> wrote:
> 
> 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
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