[Tlhingan-hol] how does {-Ha'} work on verbs that affect multiple objects?
De'vID
de.vid.jonpin at gmail.com
Wed Sep 19 15:25:10 PDT 2012
De'vID:
>> ... Could {nobHa'} mean both "give back" and
>> ?"ungive, take back", depending on the context (i.e., whether the
>> subject of {nobHa'} was the original giver or recipient of {nob})?
SuStel:
> -Ha' doesn't undo the situation you're in; it undoes the meaning of the
> verb, outside of any context. The question is really what the meaning of
> "give-undone" is. It could be "return" or it could be "take back."
> Fortunately, the canonical example answers this for us: it is "return."
Then do you think we can infer nothing about the meanings of {ngevHa'}
and {ngeHHa'}?
That is, {ngevHa'} means one of "sell back"/"get a refund" (original
buyer does this) or "buy back" (original seller does this), but we
cannot know which one unless a Klingon tells us explicitly? Similarly
for {ngeHHa'} being "send back" (original recipient does this) or "ask
(something) to be sent back" (original sender does this). Or can we
generalise from {nobHa'} that for a verb of this type, the "recipient"
of the action is the one doing the {-Ha'}? (And hence {ngevHa'} and
{ngeHHa'} would be "sell back" and "send back" respectively?)
--
De'vID
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