On 3/23/2019 1:38 AM, Christa Hansberry wrote:
Speaking of X [pronoun] Y'e' constructions, can 'e' be the pronoun? Like if I were making a Klingon arcade game, and wanted to say "Your goal is to shoot the asteroids", would "ghopDapmey Dabach 'e' ngoQlIj'e' " work? I mean, you /could/ just say "ghopDapmey tIbach!", but that doesn't cover all the situations when you want to define a noun with an action...
You can only use *'e'* (or *net*) as an object, and that precludes using it as the pronoun in a copula. To say /Your goal is to shoot the asteroids,/ say *ghopDapmeyDaq bachmeH ngoQ 'oH ngoQlIj'e'.* You could use *'e'* by saying *ghopDapmeyDaq bIbach 'e' 'oH ngoQlIj'e'* and it would follow all the known rules of grammar, but I feel like this construction would be cumbersome, and you'd only do it to mimic the grammar of the English original. Note that the object of *bach* is the beam that comes out of your weapon, not the target of your fire, though Klingon allows you to refer to the weapon that shoots the beam. So you can say *tIH vIbach*/I shoot the ray/ and *nISwI' vIbach*/I shoot the disruptor,/ but not *ghopDap vIbach*/I shoot the asteroid./ To specify your target, use the locative *-Daq.* KGT is a little cagey as to exactly what the difference is, but it appears that you use *bach* when referring to beam weapons and *baH* when referring to weapons that launch a projectile that explodes. You use *chuH* to refer to thowing a weapon that's meant to be thrown. It's unclear what you would use when referring to non-exploding projectile weapons. My guess is *bach.* -- SuStel http://trimboli.name