tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Aug 03 12:00:24 1995

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Re: }}} KLBC: wamwI'



According to Alan Anderson:
... 
> {HIq tlhutlh yaS} "The officer drinks the liquor."  maj.
> {??? vItlhutlhmoH} "I cause the officer to drink the liquor."  jor jay'!
> ...
> {HIq tlhutlh yaS 'e' vIqaSmoH} works perfectly by sidestepping the whole
> "transitive verb with {-moH}" issue.

Also, since you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make
him drink, and Klingons have similar tendencies, I'd go more
with:

tlhutlhmeH yaS, ghaHvaD HIq vInob 'ej yItlhutlh vIra'.

> >Given that {lo'moHlaH} could ONLY mean, "cause to be valuable",
...
> You're right, {lo'moHlaH} COULD mean "cause to be valuable."  The
> two-object problem keeps us from translating it as "cause to be able to
> use", but that doesn't mean it MUST have a valid translation.  

But if someone says it, you can figure they were trying to say
something and only one of the possible interpretations is valid.

> I'm probably
> relying far too much on the suffix order, but...

YOu could end it there. The suffix order is fixed. We can't
change it. When a root and suffix combination gets a different
definition, that new word can still receive suffixes which come
between the suffix and the verb. It's that simple.

> I have a very difficult time
> accepting "out-of-order" translations.  Meanwhile, {lo'laH 'oH 'e' qaSmoH
> ghaH} is available.  It trades decreased brevity for increased clarity.

I don't really see this as clearer. It has the same ambiguity
resolved the same way. No object means "be valuable" instead of
"able to use".

>  -- ghunchu'wI'

charghwI'
-- 

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