tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Jan 03 16:26:24 1997
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KLBC: RE: Does this make sense?
jatlh SuStel:
> HumanvaD parmaq bISovchugh, yangagh. batlh qorDu'lIj DawIv pagh batlhHa'
> novHom DawIv!
>
> It's really not too bad. There are some obvious flaws. "If you know love,"
> has "love" as the object, so you cannot use the {bI-} prefix. You need the
> prefix {Da-}.
Oops! Boy do I feel silly now... {{:-)
> Is the "knowing" of love done for the benefit of the human? That's what
> {-vaD} indicates. If you're talking about "human love" (which is not the same
> as plain old {parmaq}, probably), you might use {Human parmaq DaSovchugh}.
> Better yet, {Human parmaq Dayajchugh}.
I was trying to basically say, "If you love the human, then go <ahem!> him."
However, we know that {parmaq} is a noun, so I couldn't come up with a way to
get around it. I tried recasting it, and all I came up with was "If you know
{parmaq} for the human, mate with him." That's where my sentance came from.
Isn't {-vaD} the correct way to create indirect objects such as this? I may be
a bit confused. If you understand what I was trying to say, I would appreciate
suggestions on how to say it. I think that the use of "know" isn't really
appropriate in this sense, now that you mention it. Is there a word for
"experience" or "feel" that I don't know about?
> Let's see: you've also phrased the second half of this as two statements:
> either you will do this or you will do that. I'd have phrased this with at
> least one command.
>
> batlh qorDu'lIj DawIvbe'chugh, vaj batlhHa' novHomvam yIwIv!
>
> If you will not choose your family honorably, then choose this minor alien
> species dishonorably!
That makes sense and is closer to the original intent. {qatlho'}!
-mIqIraH