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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 9/17/2019 10:32 AM, Will Martin
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:DD98D8F1-0571-4761-9224-C4086E3B7D5C@mac.com">
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Looking at the actual examples, certain adverbials appear to
consistently precede other particular adverbials. That looks a lot
like the behavior of verb suffixes.</blockquote>
<p>We don't have enough examples to form a pattern. We have a few
examples from <i>paq'batlh.</i><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:DD98D8F1-0571-4761-9224-C4086E3B7D5C@mac.com">
<div class="">There is no evidence that the order of adverbials
depends upon their relative “importance”. We don’t even know how
a Klingon would rate the relative importance of adverbials.</div>
</blockquote>
<p>Or whether there is a fixed order at all. Or whether the order
determines some kind of scope. Or whether certain adverbials
precede other adverbials on Tuesday nights when you have two
jacks.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:DD98D8F1-0571-4761-9224-C4086E3B7D5C@mac.com">
<div class="">There is limited evidence that there is a kind of
nesting such that each adverbial applies to all that follows it,
though it could well be that the sequence is arbitrary.
Meanwhile, he could have shown us that it is arbitrary by
varying which adverbial comes first, but he didn’t, so it seems
less likely that it is arbitrary.</div>
</blockquote>
<p>He wasn't trying to show us that the order was variable, he was
translating poetry. And when people write or speak, they often
don't vary something that could be variable because consistency
helps keep the narrative together. They're not "Jane and Dick"
books, even though there's no linguistic reason not to call them
that. It's not "Costello and Abbot" or "jelly and peanut butter."<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:DD98D8F1-0571-4761-9224-C4086E3B7D5C@mac.com">
<div class="">It would be interesting if someone were to bring up
the idea of adverbial types to Okrand. I suspect he’d smile at
the idea. He might go with it, though I doubt it.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">If he did, he’d probably go back and study the
patterns he’s already followed, then expand on those patterns
with ideas of his own and we’d have another little interesting
tweak to the grammar of the language.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">But, as I said, he probably would just smile and not
offer us any further insight.</div>
</blockquote>
<p>I dislike speculating on when Okrand will act impishly or not.
Imagining mysterious smiles does not substitute for analyzing
grammar, and any speculation on what he would do is just so much
fan fiction.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:DD98D8F1-0571-4761-9224-C4086E3B7D5C@mac.com">
<div class="">Any opinion the rest of us might form can color our
individual approach to the language, but will not become
commonly accepted practice by the body of speakers.</div>
</blockquote>
It will, at best, because the Earth dialect of Klingon. It will
never be Klingon as spoken by Klingons.<br>
<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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