[Tlhingan-hol] "Who are you?"

[Ruben Molina]

There is an interesting discussion about this contradiction between
the dictionary and the tape in "{'Iv} and {nuq} as Pronouns" by
Captain Krankor.

«Remember, categories such as "pronoun," "question word," "adverbial,"
and the like are convenient classification added by _terran_
scholars.  Klingon grammarians classify _all_ such words as *chuvmey*,
"leftovers." So, *jIH*, *SoH*, and *maH* are the same type of words as
*'Iv* and *nuq* and it would seem completely reasonable for them to
behave similarly.» — "{'Iv} and {nuq} as Pronouns",  "The Grammarian's
Desk",  p.24–25.

He also offers a couple of parse trees in p.25:

{'Iv SoH}
  |- {'Iv} "who" (pronoun as noun, object of verb)
  |- {SoH} "you are" (pronoun as verb of "to be")

{SoH 'Iv}
  |- {SoH} "you" (pronoun as noun, object of verb)
  |- {'Iv} "who is (are)" (pronoun as verb of "to be")

ruben

On Wed, Jun 5, 2013 at 8:57 AM, Fiat Knox <fiat_knox at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> Interesting contradiction here.
>
> When you really have to say "Who are you?" - that specific question, rather
> than {yIngu''egh} Identify yourself! - I spotted what might be a
> contradiction.
>
> Conversational Klingon, that venerable old resource
> (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEjBhGD2rFA), lists {SoH 'Iv} as "Who are
> you?" (from 11:20 on the above page) ... but TKD says the following:-
>
> "For 'Iv who? and nuq what? the question word fits into the sentence in the
> position that would be occupied by the answer." [TKD, 6.4]
>
> So technically, the construction ought to be {'Iv SoH} / {'Iv ghaH} / {'Iv
> tlhIH} / {'Iv chaH}, and {nuq 'oH} / {nuq bIH} for "What is it? / What are
> they?," right?
>
> I've been in favour of {'Iv SoH} for "Who are you?" and {nuq 'oH} for "What
> is it?" for years, but this has been brought to my attention by a young, yet
> attentive, newcomer to tlhIngan Hol whom I've been training.
>
> So would you call it a grammatical anomaly, a quirk of tlhIngan Hol, or
> something else?
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tlhingan-hol mailing list
> Tlhingan-hol at stodi.digitalkingdom.org
> http://stodi.digitalkingdom.org/mailman/listinfo/tlhingan-hol
>



-- 
There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.