[Tlhingan-hol] Interactions between verb suffixes

[SuStel]

On 12/22/2015 10:53 AM, Will Martin wrote:
> Thinking further on it, I think {-choH} does apply to the subject and
> verb and object. There may be a giant hall chocked FULL of people
> holding swords, so blade-holding is happening all over the place over a
> long span of time, but when THIS individual subject begins to hold this
> individual object, the {-choH} moment of the statement is triggered, and
> this boy becomes a man.
>
> He could begin to hold a rock. Nope. Not a man yet. Someone else could
> begin to hold his sword. Nope. Still not a man. He buys the sword. Nope.
> Still not a man. He admires his sword. Nope. Still not a man.
>
> He begins to hold his sword. Poof! Got it. Manhood.

But this doesn't tell us the general applicability of {-choH}. 
Generally, it means that somewhere, somehow related to this verb, there 
is a change of state. Maybe it's a change in the action, maybe it's a 
change in the subject, maybe it's a change in the object. Maybe it's a 
change in something else. TKD doesn't say it's any particular 
combination of these, just that "the action described by the verb 
involves a change OF SOME KIND from the state of affairs that existed 
before the action took place."

So the sentence doesn't necessarily say only that he "is able to begin 
holding a blade" and it doesn't necessarily say only that he "begins to 
be able to hold a blade." It just says that there is sword-holding going 
on, he is able to do something, and there is a change of state involved. 
Context and common sense tell us how to put it together. How we choose 
to translate it to English is irrelevant.

Notice that in {Du'IHchoHmoH mIvvam} "this helmet suits you" YOU are 
changed during the action but the helmet is not. Sure, you put on the 
helmet and it is now worn, but the sentence isn't about a helmet being 
worn, it's about what the helmet does to you.

 From looking at various canonical examples, I would hazard a guess that 
the agent of the verb (to use a simplified label) is generally the 
entity that is changed.

-- 
SuStel
http://trimboli.name