tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Jun 16 11:33:58 1995
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Re: "Do it or else..."?
- From: [email protected]
- Subject: Re: "Do it or else..."?
- Date: Fri, 16 Jun 1995 14:34:06 -0500
ghItlhta' ghunchu'wI':
>Soqra'tIS: > yIlo'qu' yIHeghbej joq petaQ
>
>jIH: > DIp muvwI' 'oH <<joq>>'e' 'ach mu'tlhegh muvwI' Dalo'nIS.
> > <<'ej>> chaw' <<qoj>> vaj <<pagh>> Dalo'nIS.
>
>Soqra'tIS: > jIHtaHbogh naDev vISovbe'. DIvI' Hol DaghItlh 'e' [sic]
>
>"{qoj} (and/or) permits {'ej} (and), so you need to use {pagh} (either/or)."
qatlho'neS. I couldn't parse it properly and was going NUTS (who said,
"What do you mean GOING?") trying to figure out your meaning.
>I was responding to TWO errors in the so-called threat.
Only two errors? I'm improving!
>The really bad one was using {joq} after the sentences to join them as if
>they were nouns. The obvious correction would be {yIlo'qu' qoj yIHeghbej}.
>However, the other error was the choice of {joq/qoj} instead of {ghap/pagh}.
>Since {qoj} means "and/or", the half-corrected threat comes out like
>"Really use it, or certainly die, or both." Where's the incentive? :-) You
>should use {pagh} "either/or" to get "Either really use it or certainly die."
>
>Soqra'tIS: > <<bIlo'be'chug vaj bIHegh>> DaH vItu'pu'.
> > nuq bIQub.
>
>"If you do not use then you die." Since you probably mean "use my name",
>your choice of {bI-} doesn't work here. {Da-} is what you need instead.
>Why did you drop the {-bej} from {bIHegh}? It really had the flavor of a
>warrior's threat; without it, the sentence feels somehow wimpier to me.
>Using {vaj} after {-chugh} seems unnecessary. It's probably just personal
>preference, but I tend to translate {vaj} more as "thus" than as "then".
>"If X then Y" is okay in English, but {X-chugh Y} is just fine in Klingon.
>I still think {-Qo'} instead of {-be'} would be better, but that's my own
>lack of intolerance showing. With {-be'}, you might have to kill someone
>for accidentally forgetting to use your name; with {-Qo'} he/she suffers
>the consequences only if he/she REFUSES to use it.
Now then, {yIlo'qu' pagh yIHeghbej} or {Dalo'be'chug vaj bIHeghbej}. THAT
is the question... I like the first one ('cause it's mostly my construct),
but the second seems more correct (came out of TKDs "Surrender or Die"
{bIjeghbe'chugh vaj bIHegh} page 170, 3rd sentence from bottom)
>Since I seem to have temporarily stolen a grammarian's hat here, I'll go
>ahead and point out that {DaH} belongs before a non-topicalized object.
>That means it goes at the beginning of the sentence unless you use some
>other adverbial or temporal word first. You also used {bI-} again where
>you needed {Da-}; {nuq} is the object of {Qub} in your question.
>
>yoDtargh DaH SoHvaD nachyoDlIj vIchegh.
maj, bIyuDHa'law'. bIyuDHa' pagh bIghHa'Daq yIghoS }};-)
targhlIj yab tIn law' no'lI' Hoch yabDu' tIn puS - ~mark
-------------------------------------------------
vIta'pu'be' !!! tlhIngan ghaH *Bart Simpson*'e'
Soqra'tIS [email protected]