tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Apr 08 22:18:50 1996
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Re: Tasty, nice ... etc & KLBC
- From: [email protected] (Alan Anderson)
- Subject: Re: Tasty, nice ... etc & KLBC
- Date: Tue, 9 Apr 1996 00:21:15 -0500
macheq writes:
>I have an idea concerning all the words (adjectives) that imply "nice" or some
>positive & negative sensations. It came to me form Chinese.
>
>1) In Chinese (Mandarin) adjectives are also verbs.
>
>2) for "nice" they just use "good + verb" e.g.:
>
>"tasty" is just "good-[to]-eat" {hao-chi de} and
>"nice (music)" is "good-[to]-listen (music)" {hao-ting de (yinyue)} and so on,
>
>and "ugly" is "not good-[to]-look" {bu hao-kan}.
>
>maybe in tlhingan-Hol:
>
>tasty: <Soplu'meH QaQ> and <tlhotlhlu'meH QaQ> - depending on whether
>solid or liquid.
>
>e.g. tlhotlhlu'meH QaQ biQ.
I don't recognize {tlhotlh} -- I assume you meant {tlhutlhlu'meH}.
But this is a good grammatical tool to keep in mind. It's not always
going to be appropriate for the idea being translated, but it appears
to be a useful way to phrase things.
> Other examples:
>
>Qoylu'meH QaQ tlhIngan Hol. (good to hear = nice, pleasant to your ear)
>
>tuQlu'meH QaQ tera'ngan HIp. (good to wear = comfortable)
>
>larghlu'meH QaQ (good to smell = nice, odorous)
>
>leghlu'meH QaQ (good to see = nice, beautiful)
>
>ba'lu'meH QaQ (good to sit = comfortable)
>
>Hotlu'meH QaQ (good to touch = nice, pleasant)
>
>
>This may also solve the problems of the: "good day to die"
>I would opt for No. 17: Heghlu'meH QaQ DaHjaj
[I would opt not to say it at all, actually.]
>or with an aspect suffix:
>HeghtaHlu'meH QaQ DaHjaj,
>Haghpu'lu'meH QaQ DaHjaj
>or: (with intentions)
>HeghlI'lu'meH QaQ DaHjaj,
>Heghta'lu'meH QaQ DaHjaj.
Watch your suffix order! Aspect suffixes are type 7, and must follow the
type 5 "indefinite subject" suffix.
>If we were more noun-centered, No. 18 might also be good:
>HeghghachvaD QaQ DaHjaj
We've been informed that {-ghach} on a verb with no other verb suffixes
sounds "highly marked." It can be understood (like "givation" might be),
but it's a very unusual way to speak. It's also not required at all in
this case, because {Hegh} is also a perfectly good noun meaning "death".
>but better with two suffixes:
>HeghtaHlu'ghachvaD QaQ DaHjaj,
>Heghpu'lu'ghachveD QaQ DaHjaj
The {-lu'} suffix has to come before {-taH} or {-pu'} or {-lI'} or {-ta'}.
You're starting to get bogged down in the mechanics of meaning, to the
point where the meaning itself gets lost in the shuffle. What is your
suggestion of {Heghlu'pu'ghach} supposed to mean?
-- ghunchu'wI' batlh Suvchugh vaj batlh SovchoH vaj