Conjunctions Again

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Using Conjunctions

As outlined in the last lesson, the three kinds of conjunctions are:-

je	and (joining nouns)	'ej	and (joining sentences)
joq	and/or (joining nouns)	qoj	and/or (joining sentences)
ghap	either/or (joining nouns)	pagh	either/or (joining sentences)

In contrast with English, we only have one conjunction and which we use in joining nouns and sentences alike: fish AND chips, we talked AND we laughed, the Klingon AND the Terran both fought AND died with honour and so on.

In tlhIngan Hol, the first sentence would require the je conjunction (ghotI, tlhagh patat 'oQqar naQHommey, je), the second example would require the sentence conjunction 'ej (majatlhpu' 'ej maHaghpu') and the last example would require both (batlh Suvta' tlhIngan tera'ngan je 'ej batlh Heghta' tlhIngan tera'ngan je).

je can also be used in the context of also, too:-

romuluSngan tera'ngan je	A Romulan and a Terran too
nepwI' tojwI' je	a liar and a deceiver too
toplIn cha'pujqutmey je	topaline and also dilithium crystals
DIpmey wotmey je	nouns. Verbs, too

English also has a very important limitation in that whereas Klingon has four distinct conjunctions for or, depending on whether it is for joining nouns or sentences, and depending on whether the conjunction is exclusive (one or the other but not both) or inclusive (one and/or the other), English only really has one such conjunction, or, and no way of making such a subtle distinction.

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