tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Aug 06 08:41:52 1998
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Re: KLBC : will
- From: Robyn Stewart <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: KLBC : will
- Date: Thu, 6 Aug 1998 08:23:23 -0700 (PDT)
---David Baxter <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> choja'chugh Sotlaw' jIngeH.
>
> When you tell me I send a distress signal.
>
> This needs 'will' between I and send. I couldn't find anything >
suitable...
> any ideas?
Please look at my answer yesterday "Re: Exercises." The word "will"
in your English sentence is part of the future tense of the English
verb "send." That is, because the action of the sentence is in the
future, English changes the verb from "send" to "will send." In
Klingon there are no tenses, so the verb does not change when the
action was in the past, or will be in the future. No word like "will"
(and no change similat to "sent," when in the past) is available or
necessary.
Other notes about your sentence.
/choja'chugh/ is "if you tell me"
/choja'DI'/ is "when you tell me"
Because /Sotlaw'/ is the direct object of /ngeH/ you need a prefix
that indicates and object: /vIngeH/.
I've heard it suggested you use /lab/ or /lI'/ instead of /ngeH/,
arguing that /ngeH/ should be reserved for sending physical objects.
Of course, your distress signal could be a letter or a message in a
bottle, so that's not wrong in any case.
choja'chugh Sotlaw' vIngeH.
could mean:
"If you tell me I will send a distress signal."
"If you tell you I send a distress signal."
"If you told me I sent a distress signal."
The first one makes by far the most sense. I have a hard time
thinking of any context where the other two work. Your sentence
(with the prefix correction) would be read by most peopel exactly as
you intended it.
==
Qov - Beginners' Grammarian
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