On 9/28/2020 3:38 PM, Will Martin wrote:
But in Klingon, {‘ach HoD, Hevetlh wIghoSchugh, veH tIn wI’el maH’e’} we have the first person plural subject indicated by the prefix {wI-}, with emphasis added by the explicit, uncommonly redundant pronoun {maH}, and just to make sure that the pronoun was noticed, it was marked with {-‘e’}
Well, no. The *maH* is there strictly so that we can hang the *-'e'* on it. See, when we say that *-'e'* provides emphasis, what we really mean is that it provides a semantic meaning that doesn't exist without it: focus. *-'e'* on a subject or object means exclusivity. The *-'e'* is not just some vague sense of emphasis; it has a semantic meaning, just like *-Daq* has the semantic meaning of locative. *Duj* means /ship. /*DujDaq* means /in/on/at the ship./ *Duj'e'* means /the ship and not something else./ The *maH* is only there so that we can use *-'e'* on it to say /us and not someone else;/ it would be impossible to say that without using the pronoun.
It makes sense to verbally emphasize the {-‘e’}, since it is basically the equivalent of spitting after saying the word {taHqeq}. It’s making sure that the listener knows that word was not just casually included as a side note. That word is doing jumping jacks, waving signal flags, firing off flares and screaming to be noticed as important.
No, it's just the fact that in a noun, syllables that end in *qaghwI'* are stressed. The way Vixis says *maH'e',* with stress on the *-'e',* is just the natural way to say the word. She doesn't scream it. You also stress a word this way when the *-'e'* is playing the role of topic, without emphasis: *'entepray' 'oH DoS'e'*/As for the target, it is /Enterprise.
"Yo! The people heading into the Great Barrier right now? Those people are WE! WE are heading into the Great Barrier! You! Me! All the rest of the people on this ship. WE are heading into the Great Barrier. I’m not talking about anybody else, here. I’m talking about US! Got that?"
All that in one syllable. Yes, Klingon can be remarkably concise.
*bo'Dagh'a' Dalo'.* All the *-'e'* does is add "(not someone/something else)" to the meaning of the noun. This is a simple morpheme indicating grammatical focus. It just so happens that English does not have a morpheme that does the same thing. But you can approximate it by stressing the word instead. /But WE will enter the Barrier!/ In a sense, that's even more concise than the Klingon, as you haven't added any morphemes at all. -- SuStel http://trimboli.name