tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Aug 01 23:01:35 1995
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Re: }} KLBC!!!
- From: Chris Nielsen <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: }} KLBC!!!
- Date: Wed, 2 Aug 1995 15:01:35 +1200 (NZST)
On Tue, 1 Aug 1995, R.B Franklin wrote:
>
> On Wed, 2 Aug 1995, Chris Nielsen wrote:
>
> > If I wanted to say "Start the engines and I'll kill you!", would this work?
> >
> > jonta'mey Dachu' 'ej qaHoH!
>
> {jonta'mey Dachu'} means "You are starting the engines." When you are
> telling someone to do something, you use the imperative prefixes. (See
> Sec. 4.1.2.)
> jonta'mey yIchu'. Start the engines.
>
> {jonta'mey yIchu' 'ej qaHoH} literally means "Start the engines and I'll
> kill you". You are giving a command to start the engines and you are
> stating you are going to kill him. It implies that you are going to kill
> him whether or not he actually does start the engines.
>
> If you want to say "If you start the engines, I'll kill you", then you
> would say this differently: jonta'mey Dachu'chugh qaHoH.
> This implies whether or not you kill him depends on whether he starts the
> engines.
Ahhh, I see! I need to think about what the English is actually saying
before translating, or this is the result!
So your last line could equally well be translated as "I'll kill you if
you start the engines"
Cool!
Thanks man,
Chris