[Tlhingan-hol] Negative polarity questions in Klingon

[Philip Newton]

On Mon, Oct 10, 2011 at 16:37, ghunchu'wI' 'utlh <qunchuy at alcaco.net> wrote:
> That's exactly how I would
> respond in Klingon to what you've labeled as a negative polarity
> question.
>
> Q: chopbe''a'?
> A: chop.

That's a method that hadn't occurred to me when I asked the question,
but I agree that it's very useful.

I think I'd call this the Irish method :) Since as I understand it,
Irish (like Latin and some other languages) doesn't use "yes" or "no"
but either something like "it is (not) so" (à la {qar}) or - perhaps
more commonly - repeat the main verb as a response. This, apparently,
also characteristically affects Hiberno-English, even in speakers who
have no Irish themselves.

It's almost certainly the clearest alternative.
- Hide quoted text -

Cheers,
Philip
--
Philip Newton <philip.newton at gmail.com>