[Tlhingan-hol] To-Be-Constructions

[David Trimboli]

On 3/31/2012 6:01 PM, Felix Malmenbeck wrote:
>
> Sojvetlh 'oH nuq'e'? ("What is that food?")
>
> Dochvam nuq? ("What's this thing?")
>
> yIH nuq? ("What is a tribble?")
>
> In all of these cases, it seems that the thing you're being asked to
> describe in more detail is the object.

Only the first example has a subject/topic, and is the only one of these 
three to contradict the usual understanding we have. The others are 
examples of using question words as pronouns as verbs, and do not have 
topics. It doesn't follow the "X is Y" pattern in Klingon, and so is not 
a counterexample.

-- 
SuStel
http://www.trimboli.name/