On 7/13/2020 11:11 AM, Will Martin wrote:
{yIH nuq} works because {nuq} sort of works like a pronoun, except when it doesn’t.
It always works like a pronoun. Pronouns have two functions in Klingon: they stand in for nouns *(nuq legh yaS),* and they help identify nouns *(yIH nuq).* I doubt *nuq* does all the things that pronouns can do. I doubt, for instance, that you'd ever put verb suffixes on *nuq.* I don't think *yIH nuqbe'* /What isn't a tribble?/ is a well-formed sentence. We don't really know anything about that. But *nuq* always functions basically the way a pronoun functions in Klingon.
Considering that the correct answer would be {Ha’DIbaH ‘oH yIH’e’} it’s pretty clear that {yIH nuq} is probably a shortened version of {nuq ‘oH yIH’e’}. The word {nuq} absorbs the meaning of {nuq ‘oH}, and with a single noun combined with the resulting chuv acting as a pronoun, the noun comes first.
"Pretty clear"? The ONLY evidence I can think of to support anything like that is the clipped version of *nuqDaq 'oH puchpa''e'* turning into *nuqDaq puchpa'.* One single sentence using a different word isn't what I'd call "pretty clear." It's a possibility only. We have evidence against that claim, in that Okrand said the word *nuq* works "the same way pronouns do in questions with 'to be' in the English translations," and says that *yIH nuq* is exactly parallel to *yIH 'oH.* That explanation contradicts the Clipped Klingon suggestion.
We don’t say *{nuq yIH} for the same reason we don’t say *{maH tlhIngan}. When one noun forms a sentence with a pronoun, the noun comes first.
Except we have *nuq mI'lIj, tera'ngan* from CK. I've also internalized that we have both *SoH 'Iv* and *'Iv SoH,* but I can't find a source for *'Iv SoH,* so that may not be a canonical sentence. -- SuStel http://trimboli.name