<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">On Tue, Nov 22, 2022 at 3:17 PM SuStel via tlhIngan-Hol <<a href="mailto:tlhingan-hol@lists.kli.org">tlhingan-hol@lists.kli.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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<div>On 11/22/2022 8:19 AM, zrajm via
tlhIngan-Hol wrote:<br>
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<div class="gmail_quote">Though it makes me think that Klingon 2
might abbreviate even more and just say «je» alone (skipping
the verb altogether). – This is a common practice in (at least
Swedish) sign language, though it seems a bit weird from an
English speaker's perspective.
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<div>Do you think that you (prior to this discussion) would've
understood if just a naked «je» was used? Or is that to
abbreviate too much?</div>
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<p>I'd have understood, but just understanding doesn't count for
much. If in English I said things like "I want pizza" and "I think
that was very nice," and someone with me kept saying "Also!" right
after me, I'd get it. That doesn't mean they're using the language
correctly.</p></div></blockquote><div><div>Weell, from my point of view, being understood is kinda the whole
point – or, at least, the Most Important point. :) – Though on the whole I'm more interested in whether people in
general would understand, rather than whether or not any one single individual would. (Making the fact that you'd understand an important datapoint, if not the whole picture.)<br><br></div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div>
<p>I've been studying Welsh for a while. Welsh has a gazillion ways
to say <i>yes</i> or <i>no,</i> and you have to pick the right
one for the right circumstance. If someone asked me <i>Wyt ti'n
hoffi cwrw?</i> ("Do you like beer?") and I answered <i>Naddo</i>
("No" about a past-tense action) instead of <i>Nac ydw</i>
(literally "I am not"), I would have used the language incorrectly
but I daresay I would be understood. I'd just sound like an idiot.<br></p></div></blockquote><div><br></div>You're right though, I might sound like an idiot. But maybe we all do when we speak Klingon? It's hard to tell what a Real Klingon would think (but It Is interesting to think about).</div><div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">In a way, since Klingon isn't as thoroughly documented as Welsh, we might have more leeway for making up our own styles of speaking. Though I think the primary purpose of language is communication, and given that, one can't really completely veer off the path that is the known grammar/lexikon. But small scale experimentation (esp. where its not contradicted by canon)? I think that's pretty cool! (And normal for any language.)<br><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">But even when I'm experimenting I'm interested in whether I would be understood or not. :)<br><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">/zrajm (aka maHvatlh)<br></div></div>