On 4/28/2020 9:22 AM, mayqel qunen'oS wrote:
SuStel:
I have no problem at all with allowing qatlh and chay', which work just like adverbials I'm afraid I can't understand this. Why do the {qatlh} and {chay'} work like adverbials ? How can a question word work like an adverb ?
In general linguistic terminology, an adverbial is a word or phrase that modifies a verb is done. *chay'* asks how a verb is done. Describing how a verb is done is adverbial. *qatlh* is a little less obvious, but when you describe the reason something is done, that's also modifying the verb. Since *chay'* and *qatlh* relate to adverbial concepts in general linguistic terms, it's not a stretch to suppose they resemble the class of Klingon words that Federation linguists call adverbials, at least in their placement. Remember that to Klingon linguists, these are all just *chuvmey.* They don't make these deep distinctions. And non-OVS elements tend to just get thrown in the soup of words at the front anyway. I'm not saying this is absolutely true, just that I wouldn't find it unreasonable to place *chay'* or *qatlh* in a sentence according to the same logic that you would place any adverbial.
Even if the {chay'} and {qatlh} can indeed follow a noun marked with {-'e'}..
1. Is there a rule prohibiting their being placed before it? Is there a rule which forbids us writing: {qatlh 'avwI''e' Dachotpu'?}?
No.
The only issue which I can think of, is that when we write {'avwI''e qatlh Dachotpu'?} the translation goes "as for the guard, why did you murder him?". But if we write {qatlh 'avwI''e' Dachotpu'?} then the meaning becomes "why did you murder *the guard*?". i.e. instead of the "as for.." we have an emphasis.
The rule from the TKD addendum lets you "front" objects marked with *-'e',* put them before adverbials. They apparently remain objects, at least as far as the wording of TKD goes. That means they still represent focus, not topic. However, I bet it's the similarity between topic and focus that lets one do this fronting in the first place. Basically, *'avwI''e' qatlh Dachotpu'* could be interpreted either way. This is an area of grammar we don't have clear information on, so you're not going to get a satisfying answer.
2. What happens when the question word is {ghorgh} or {nuqDaq}?
*ghorgh* and *nuqDaq* also play adverbial-like roles. In *wa'leS mamej*/We leave tomorrow,/ the *wa'leS* is a noun, but it is playing an adverbial role in the general linguistic sense. It modifies the verb. It is not what Federation linguists classify as a Klingon adverbial, but the role it plays IS adverbial. -- SuStel http://trimboli.name