On 1/22/2020 1:52 PM, Will Martin wrote:
I like the analysis in this discussion. I’ve always thought that pronouns were not the verb “to be”. Klingon lacks the verb “to be”. It’s just that Klingons use pronouns in a way that we would translate as the verb “to be”.
It was pointed out that pronouns can use verbal suffixes, but remember that only a very limited set of verbal suffixes are allowed. We could probably use ANY verbal suffix if pronouns were ever to function as actual verbs. Also, the {-‘e’} on the final noun would be unnecessary if the pronoun were acting as an actual verb.
The real point here is that the grammar for pronouns used as “to be” is like the grammar for comparatives: It is unique within the language with its own special rules and limits. You can’t take the grammar of a normal Klingon sentence and try to apply it to sentences built around pronouns used as we understand the verb “to be”.
It’s as if it were something from some other language altogether, snipped and dropped into Klingon, without reference to Klingon’s other rules of grammar.
If you want to make weird but arguably not illegal constructions, you can, but that won’t make them not weird.
lughchu' Hoch Dajatlhpu'bogh 'ej jIQochbe'chu'. SoH 'Iv, 'ej nuqDaq 'oHtaH charghwI' ngebHa''e'? -- SuStel http://trimboli.name