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<p>Would someone with Marc's email address ask him how Klingons
relate stories? In English it is customary to tell stories in the
past tense, though sometimes we use the "historical present." I'm
especially interested in whether Klingons perceive a "present
moment" in storytelling, or whether the entire story is being
looked at from after the end. In the latter case, perfective
suffixes will be needed a lot more.</p>
<p>An example. If a Klingon child were to ask his parent, <b>nuqDaq
jIboghpu'?</b> <i>Where was I born?</i> a parent without a
story might answer, <b>veng wa'DIch ropyaHDaq bIboghpu'.</b><i>
You were born in First City Hospital.</i> It's all done and
being looked at from the outside, so these sentences are
perfective. But suppose the Klingon has to tell a story to explain
the birth. Which one of these is the way it would be told—or is
there some other style?</p>
<p>Point of view follows the narrative:<br>
<b>yatlhtaHvIS SoSlI', wa' jaj HarghtaH yo'maj jagh yo' je. jIHvaD
Qum ropyaH; jatlh «boghchoHmoHpu' be'nallI'! SIbI' naDev ghoS!»
may' vInarghlaHbe', nuDechmo' jaghma'. jaghvaD jIjach; jIjatlh
«boghtaH puqwI'! jISaHlaHbe'chugh, ghogh'ot SaDIlmoHbej!» SIbI'
jegh jaghma' 'ej veng wa'DIch ropyaHDaq muDor. ghIq bIbogh.</b></p>
<p>Point of view is from after all of the events of the story are
already completed:<br>
<b>yatlhtaHvIS SoSlI', wa' jaj HarghtaH yo'maj jagh yo' je. jIHvaD
Qumpu' ropyaH; jatlhpu' «boghchoHmoHpu' be'nallI'! SIbI' naDev
ghoS!» may' vInarghlaHbe', nuDechpu'mo' jaghma'. jaghvaD
jIjachpu'; jIjatlhpu' «boghtaH puqwI'! jISaHlaHbe'chugh,
ghogh'ot SaDIlmoHbej!» SIbI' jegh rIntaH jaghma' 'ej veng
wa'DIch ropyaHDaq muDorta'. ghIq bIboghpu'.</b><br>
<b></b></p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
SuStel
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://trimboli.name">http://trimboli.name</a></pre>
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