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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 4/21/2020 9:39 AM, mayqel qunen'oS
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:ts6pl06chmk47f58qqh2kuvv.1587475534758@email.android.com">
<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;">lieven:</p>
<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;">> I would
not add a comma if it's just {A B </p>
<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;">> je}.
There is no rule, but still the question </p>
<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;">> of why
add one there? I see no need.</p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;">Indeed,
there's no need. But I think it's better if someone sticks to
one writing style throughout. If we're placing commas between
compound nouns joined by {je}/{joq}/{ghap}, then why not act the
same when just two nouns are concerned ?</p>
<br>
<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;">I'm not saying
that we *should*; I'm wondering whether it is possible.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Punctuation is largely a prescriptivist activity. You don't speak
punctuation (unless you're Victor Borge), and most punctuation
tends to be governed by whatever style guide you are using. There
are some near-universals (e.g., put spaces between separate words
— although even this isn't an absolute, as some style guides have
you put hyphens between genitively-related nouns and some don't),
but there is a lot of variation.</p>
<p>There is no universal style guide for Klingon. So far as I know,
not even a major Klingon writing project has developed an
extensive style guide. There is no authority with the right to
tell you how to punctuate.</p>
<p>So do whatever you think best. I tend to waffle between
minimalist punctuation and mimicking English punctuation. For
instance, TKD has the non-punctuated sentences <b>bIjatlhHa'chugh
qaHoH</b> and <b>qaHoH bIjatlhHa'chugh.</b> My
English-punctuating brain wants to apply the rule that you
separate a dependent clause from the main clause with a comma if
the dependent clause precedes the main clause, but not if the
dependent clause follows the main clause. <b>bIjatlhHa'chugh,
qaHoH</b> but <b>qaHoH bIjatlhHa'chugh.</b> But my internal
Klingon style guide tells me that that rule applies to English,
where it's easy to tell where a dependent clause starts if it
follows the main clause (the moment you see the <i>if,</i> you
know it's a dependent clause), but that the same logic doesn't
apply to the Klingon grammar, in which the dependent-clause marker
<b>-chugh</b> can be embedded between the verb and its subject and
doesn't delineate the start or end of the clause. So I have to
decide: how much am I going to punctuate? how consistent do I have
to be?</p>
<p>There are no authoritative answers here. In your case, you tend
to heavily punctuate, partly because you like to throw in a lot of
dependent clauses in places the grammar doesn't address, and
partly I think out of too much caution. I recommend you try to
reduce punctuation where possible, and be less concerned with
following any kind of formula or rule that tells you where to put
it without regard to its purpose.<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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