[Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: Hoj (unreal clauses)

[qov at kli.org]

It's not mandatory that a language has a mechanism other than a detailed
explanation to distinguish.  Imagine a Klingon student of English insisting
that our language is broken because we have to add a whole extra phrase to
differentiate between vIHoHpu' and vIHoHta'.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Anthony Appleyard [mailto:a.appleyard at btinternet.com]
> Sent: March 4, 2016 22:08
> To: tlhIngan-Hol at kli.org
> Subject: Re: [Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: Hoj (unreal clauses)
> 
> Context is an unreliable servant. As I wrote a few times before, we need
an
> irrealis particle, here represented by #:
> 
> Duj leghpu' X :: if X has seen the ship (he may or may not have seen it)
> 
> Duj # leghpu' X :: if X had seen the ship (and I know that he has not
seen, e.g.
> it because he was elsewhere).
> 
> ----Original message----
> From : robyn at flyingstart.ca
> Date : 04/03/2016 - 22:28 (GMTST)
> To : tlhIngan-Hol at kli.org
> Subject : Re: [Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: Hoj
> 
> Irrealis was the word Marc gave to it, when presented with "If I'd known
you
> were coming I'd have baked a cake."
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > ...
> > > Certainly Klingon currently lacks the tools to express what English
> > > does with "Had it been so, then ..."  or "Were it thus, then ..."
> > > but there are English speakers who don't use that grammar and they
> > > get by, showing that context can do the job. At a session with Mac
> > > two qep'a'mey ago the lack of an irrealis was mentioned to Marc and
> > > he appreciated what was being asked and thought about it, but hasn't
> > > returned with any solution.
> 
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