Am 18.02.2019 um 15:58 schrieb SuStel: Yes, this is a murky area of Klingon grammar :-)
Except we know that sometimes when Okrand says /sentence/ he means the verbal clause under consideration.
Yes, of course.
You would not, for instance, translate /I ask why I was chosen/ as *qatlh jIjatlh vIwIvlu'pu'?* A sentence-as-object is still a sentence, but you'd put the *qatlh* with the piece it belongs with: *jIjatlh qatlh vIwIvlu'pu'; qatlh vIwIvlu'pu' jIjatlh.*
I agree with that example, but I think it's different from what mayqel asked. He had a question: Why was I chosen to fight the enemy? Is that {qatlh jagh vISuvmeH vIwIvlu'} or {jagh vISuvmeH qatlh vIwIvlu'?} - at this point, they both sound fine to me. And using jatlh gets us a lot more into trouble. First, {jatlh} is such a special situation, and next, you are using the word "why" not as a question word, but in a way that it changes a question to a statement. There's a difference between "I ask why I was chosen." and "I ask: why was I chosen?" -- Lieven L. Litaer aka the "Klingon Teacher from Germany" http://www.klingonisch.de http://www.klingonwiki.net/En/Questions