tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Aug 11 12:05:17 1995
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Re: }} Don't greet Death
- From: "Mark E. Shoulson" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: }} Don't greet Death
- Date: Fri, 11 Aug 1995 12:05:17 -0400
>From: "William H. Martin" <[email protected]>
>Date: Fri, 11 Aug 1995 11:40:56 -0400 (EDT)
>According to Elizabeth C. Hoyt:
>>
>> On Thu, 10 Aug 1995, R.B Franklin wrote:
>>
>> > Wed, 9 Aug 1995, ghIth tlheghmeQ:
>>
>> > > Too bad we don't have a word for polite. Maybe {yIjatlhQo' qaqIHneS}
>>
>> > I translate that last part as, "Don't speak. I meet you, your honor."
>>
>> It's supposed to be: Don't say "I'm honored to meet you."
>> I thought I had this right. Where did I go wrong?
>Well, you didn't really go wrong, though you did use the form
>of quotation which is least commonly used. It is so uncommonly
>used that it is easy to see it and think that it is in error.
I think that's a little extreme. It's not so uncommon as all that, nor as
prone to be viewed as an error.
>Basically, Okrand explains the Sentence-As-Object construction
>in TKD, then explains that direct quotations exist in Klingon
>as a sort of special Sentence-As-Object form which requires no
>pronoun {'e'}. As a side note, with no explanation as to why it
>is supposed to make grammatical sense, he says that the verb of
>speech can come before the quote. I know of no canon examples
>of this word order besides this side note in the grammar
>section of TKD.
Sure there are examples. What about the classic joke about the two
Federation crewmembers and the Klingon guard... jang 'avwI', "lIchopbe'bogh
ghewmey. Or the one with the prisoner and the guard: jatlh qama'
jIDoy'qu'. I think it just struck someone's eye funny.
~mark