[Tlhingan-hol] Time and Type 7 verb suffixes

[De'vID]

SuStel:
> I've found a couple of phrases in KGT that unquestionably use -pu' as perfect tense instead of perfective aspect. One of them is {nIn Hoch natlhlu'pu'} "all the fuel has been consumed."

As I wrote earlier, mentally mapping from Klingon to Cantonese, I came
up with a list of four Cantonese aspect markers that the Klingon
{-pu'} can map to, depending on context.  ({-ta'} also maps to them,
but the additional telic or volitional meaning is indicated by other
means.)  These are: perfective (咗), completive (完), exhaustive (哂),
and experiential (過).[1]

Each one, like {-pu'}, "indicates that an action is completed", but
there are differences in meaning between them.  Perhaps the Klingon
{-pu'} can, depending on context, cover each of these meanings.

In Cantonese, to "use up" is expressed using the verb "to use" with an
aspect marker.  Suppose there are 80 units of fuel, and I use it.

If I require 60 units, after using the 60 units, I can say "I use
(completive) the fuel", i.e., I'm done using the fuel (and there may
be some left).

If I require 100 units, after using up the 80 units, I can say "I use
(exhaustive) the fuel", i.e., I'm done using the fuel (and there's
nothing left).

Either way, suppose I take a break after using 40 units.  I can say
"before my break, I use (perfective) the fuel", i.e., before the
break, there is a single, completed episode of my fuel-using.

If I were to express {nIn Hoch natlhlu'pu'} in Cantonese, it would be
with the exhaustive aspect: "The fuel has been used (exhaustive)".

So maybe Klingon {-pu'} doesn't map onto perfective aspect (as the
term is used to describe that aspect in Cantonese or other languages),
but to the whole class of aspect markers which indicate "an action is
completed".  In this specific sentence, then, {-pu'} takes on an
exhaustive meaning, because the verb {natlh} carries an exhaustive
meaning.

SuStel:
> Another is {Dujmey law' chIjpu'} "has navigated many ships."

This is a perfect example of experiential aspect.  "He navigates
(experiential) many ships", "He has undergone the experience of
navigating many ships".

There's no contradiction between the sentence and TKD's description of
{-pu'} as indicating that the action (the navigation of many ships) is
completed.  The sentence is problematic if we try to interpret {-pu'}
as a perfective aspect marker that demands we view "the navigation of
many ships" as a discrete event with no internal structure, but if we
allow that {-pu'} indicates only that the event is completed, then in
this sentence it seems to be acting like experiential aspect.  As with
{nIn} sentence, I think the specific verb and the context sufficiently
explain the use of {-pu'} in this sentence.

After re-reading TKD, going through a lot of examples, and thinking
hard about aspect in Klingon, I think the absence of a Type 7 suffix
does change the meaning of a sentence (and isn't optional).  I'm less
convinced that {-pu'} behaves exactly like what a linguistic textbook
would call a perfective aspect marker (in the abstract) at all times
(then again, real life languages rarely behave like textbooks say they
do).  But I think there's a case that it usually does (and which is
why MO called {-pu'} a perfective aspect marker and not something
else), and when it doesn't, there's a reason why that is so.

I can come up with examples (like the two discussed in this post)
where {-pu'} behaves like another aspect marker instead, and in
particular: completive, exhaustive, or experiential.  However, all of
these aspects have in common that they indicate a completed action.
So the best explanation I can come up with, based on TKD and canon, is
that {-pu'} does usually indicate perfective aspect, except when
something else in the sentence (like a verb that carries an aspectual
meaning), or context, overrides that meaning.

[1] - I believe the Cantonese grammar by Matthews and Yip has a
comprehensive list of all Cantonese aspect markers, but I don't have
the book.  I didn't find a complete list online, but the following
each describe parts of the system, if anyone's interested:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantonese_grammar#Verbal_Aspect
- http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/phorum/read.php?7,49499
- www.chinese-lessons.com/cantonese/grammarL8Aspect.htm

--
De'vID