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<p>Re: unmeasured <b>ret</b><br>
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 12/27/2018 11:02 AM, Steven Boozer
wrote:<br>
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cite="mid:DM6PR11MB2876CE27D42EED3C3867BB4FC1B60@DM6PR11MB2876.namprd11.prod.outlook.com">
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It would probably sound as odd as saying just "ago" or "from now" in English. E.g. "Ago I drank two cups of coffee " or "Don't worry! I'll finish typing up this letter from now."
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<p>On the other hand, thinking so might just reflect an English
bias. For instance, TKD points out that what English does with
prepositions, Klingon often does with nouns. It gives the example
of <b>Dung</b> <i>area overhead,<b> </b></i>and gives the
translation of <b>DungDaq</b> as <i>overhead.</i> So does that
mean that Klingons always use "area words" like <b>Dung</b> with
a syntactic marker? I don't think so: it seems perfectly
reasonable to me to say <b>'IH Dung</b> <i>The area overhead is
beautiful </i>if you were, say, at the Sistine Chapel. Any
needed qualification of exactly which <b>Dung</b> you're talking
about is implied from the context. So is a time expression any
different? If exactly how many <b>ret</b> you're talking about
isn't important, could you just wave your hand vaguely and say <b>ret</b>?
Yeah, sure, never approximate and all that, but is adding <b>'op</b>
really any better?</p>
<p>I'm not passing any sort of judgment on this; I'm just saying
that it's really an unknown that can only be solved by Okrand
making a decision about it. You can't prove that you can't do it
by noticing that it's never been done; it might just not have
appeared <i>yet.</i> A statement by Okrand about using it one way
doesn't preclude using it another way too.</p>
<p>If you want to play it safe, add the <b>'op</b> or o<b></b>ther
specifier, but this is definitely not a known rule.<br>
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<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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