tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Oct 15 21:07:26 1997
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"you will die without honor"
ja' charghwI':
>On Sun, 12 Oct 1997 20:53:34 -0700 (PDT) Alan Anderson
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> But remember the holiday proverb from PK:
>> {Hoch DaSopbe'chugh batlh bIHeghbe'}
>> "Eat everything or you will die without honor."
>
>I'm not sure that the English translation is not simply
>intentionally inaccurate in order to span the customs of those
>it is translated for. I think Klingon Moms are actually saying,
>"If you don't eat everything, you won't die honorably." Hegh
>Hoch net Sov. batlh Heghlu' pagh batlhHa' Heghlu'. batlh
>Heghbe'lu'chugh vaj batlhHa' Heghlu'ba'.
I don't buy it. According to your earlier objection, {batlh bIHeghbe'}
would have to imply that you don't die, and your "not dying" is done
honorably. The apparently correct interpretation, however, is that
"dying with honor" is the thing that is not happening. The {-be'} is
negating the entire phrase *including the adverbial element*.
>I do not agree that this example implies any general rule that
>such a negative can be applied to any part of the sentence.
Okay, tell me how you want me to read what you just wrote above, where
you said {batlh Heghbe'lu'chugh...} In the context of this discussion,
I interpret it as "if one does not (die with honor)..." But from what
you were complaining about before, I'd expect you to want to interpret
it as "if one (does not die) with honor...", negating the verb before
applying the adverbial.
-- ghunchu'wI'