On 8/7/2020 10:03 AM, mayqel qunen'oS wrote:
SuStel:
qaSpa' loS ben before four years ago occurs I'm slightly confused with this. Shouldn't the {loS ben} as a time stamp be always the first element in a sentence (i.e. without being preceded by a verb) ?
This isn't a "time stamp." It's a subordinate clause. The *loS ben* is the subject of the verb *qaSpa'.* Remember, *ben* /years ago /is a noun in Klingon and may be used as such.
Could I indeed say the following ?
qaSpa' loS ben, tlhIngan Hol vIghojmoHpu' I started learning klingon more than four years ago
Yes, though you've got some errors there, and in general I'd expect any such sentence to be reporting the /completed/ event of four years ago occurring. *qaSpu'pa' loS ben, tlhIngan Hol vIghojchoHpu'. */I started to learn Klingon more than four years ago. /Literally, /Before four years ago occurred, I started to learn Klingon./ That's not to say *qaSpa'* always has to have perfective added to it. "Let me take you back in your memory. It's more than four years ago, and..." -- SuStel http://trimboli.name