<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">I would argue that from a logical/semantic standpoint, “understand” has no real intransitive meaning. The intransitive use is simply a shorthand for an implied transitive meaning. While “I understand” might an intransitive use syntactically, the actual idea being communicated by the statement is “I understand this thing/concept/abstraction/whatever”, which is a transitive concept.<div><br></div><div>I think there are many verbs that operate solely transitively on a semantic level, even if we make them intransitive on a syntactic level — the syntactic intransitiveness still implies a semantic object, even if that object isn’t stated.</div><div><br></div><div>It seems to me that there is no reason for Klingon to follow the syntactic shorthand that English does of “intranstivising” transitive verbs as a shorthand. {jIyaj} doesn’t save any time to say over {vIyaj}, and {vIyaj} is more semantically accurate — since there is an “it” that is being understood.</div><div><br></div><div>—jevreH<br><br><div id="AppleMailSignature">Sent from my iPhone</div><div><br>On Mar 6, 2019, at 10:16, SuStel <<a href="mailto:sustel@trimboli.name">sustel@trimboli.name</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 3/6/2019 10:04 AM, Jeffrey Clark
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite="mid:048AA38E-46D9-435E-B7BF-B7080F20A316@gmail.com">
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">I would think that there would be linguistic pressure against things like {jIqIm} and even {jIyaj}.
In English, for example, we drop the object since context implies it (our own form of clipping). But in Klingon I don’t see the point of changing the prefix just because the object is understood. You are understanding something, you are paying attention to something, you are behaving like something… just because the object is not explicitly given doesn’t mean that the transitive quality of the verb goes away, there is a still “something” that the verb is pointing to, even if it is understood.</pre>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>This set of prefixes is also used when an object is possible,
but unknown or vague. Thus, <b>jIyaj</b> <i>I understand</i>
can be used when the speaker understands things in general,
knows what is going on, or understands what another speaker has
just said. It cannot, however, be used for understanding a
language or understanding a person. Similarly, <b>maSop</b> <i>we
eat</i> can be used to indicate a general act of eating, but
not if a specific food is mentioned. [TKD]<br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p><b>jIqIm</b> can be used in situations where you want to convey
that your attention is given, without specifying exactly what
you're paying attention to. <b>yIqIm</b> can be used to order
somebody to pay attention to whatever is about to happen, without
having to say the vague <i>whatever is about to happen</i> every
time.</p>
<p><b>jIDa</b> simply means you are behaving as <i>something,</i>
without mentioning what you are behaving as.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite" cite="mid:048AA38E-46D9-435E-B7BF-B7080F20A316@gmail.com">
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">It seems more likely to me that there would be a (unspoken, perhaps) rule about using no-object prefixes with many transitive verbs that can’t have intransitive meanings.</pre>
</blockquote>
<p>You'd first have to convince me that there are verbs that cannot
have intransitive meanings.<br>
</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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