[tlhIngan Hol] adverb {rut} {motlh} and aspect {-pu'}

[Alan Anderson]

On Mon, May 2, 2022 at 8:09 AM D qunen'oS <mihkoun at gmail.com> wrote:

> I want to describe the event of eating pizza, which took place in the
> past, looking at it back from the present.
>

Unless you put it in a very unusual context, that description matches the
idea of perfective very well.


> pIj pItSa' vISoppu'
> I've often eaten pizza
> (here the aspect {-pu'} is used)
>

The perfective doesn't come from the adverbial. It comes from the idea of
an event of eating.


> roD pItSa' vISop
> Customarily/habitually/regularly I've eaten pizza
> (here the aspect {-pu'} isn't used)
>

The lack of perfective doesn't come from the adverbial. It comes from the
idea of a tendency to eat pizza, or of an assertion that eating pizza is
something that happens.


> Now, suppose we want to say "in the past, sometimes/occasionally I've
> eaten pizza", and we're looking back on the event. Do we need to use the
> {-pu'} here?
>
> rut pItSa' vISop
> rut pItSa' vISoppu'
>
> Which would be the correct choice?
>

The correct choice would depend on whether you mean "I eat pizza" as an
event of eating pizza (perfective) or as a general statement of what you
eat (not perfective).


> And if we want to say "in the past, usually I've eaten pizza", and we're
> looking back on the event, do we use {-pu'}?
>
> motlh pItSa' vISop
> motlh pItSa' vISoppu'
>
> Which would be the correct choice?
>

The correct choice would depend on whether you mean "I eat pizza" as an
event of eating pizza (perfective) or as a general statement of what you
eat (not perfective).

Incidentally, none of your Klingon sentences imply "in the past".

-- ghunchu'wI'
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