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on 4/26/02 2:13 PM, Rob Speer at rob@hidden.email wrote:
>
> Unfortunately, "ploj" is not the most straightforward example for
> turning a predicate into a modal.
>
> Say the pinvor that does this is "ho".
>
> The sentence "go skri hoploj krajon" has two problems. One is that
> there's no article before "krajon", so this actually comes out as "go
> skri ho plojkrajon".
Quite so. Oops.
>The other is that "ploj" refers to the user;
> "beploj" refers to that which is used, which is what you want the modal
> to be. So what you want is "go skri ho beploj ta krajon". ("go skri ho
> ploj krajon" would mean "I write used by a crayon". Yes, this is
> counterintuitive.)
Isn't it a question of how you define 'ho'? I'm thinking of it as meaning
'by'
I write by use of a pencil.
or one meaning of -ing
I write using a pencil.
Originally I was following Mandarin usage:
Go ploj te krajon skri.
Where the first verb phrase sort of modifies the second. Then I saw
problems with that, and decided to use a 'subordinating particle', which is
how I see the 'ho' here.
This sense of 'ho' could be used this way
Go dorm ho sta te kama. I sleep in a bed.
So 'ho' is maybe a shorthand way of saying.
Go sta kama. (and under those conditions) go dorm.
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