tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Aug 27 20:27:25 1998
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RE: KLBC - paghvaD pab qab vInob
tuv'el jang pagh:
>> jagh vengDaq ghuS'a' cha?
>> "Are the missiles ready to launch at the enemy's city?"
>
>This doesn't quite work for me. <ghuS'a' cha> means "are the missiles
>ready (to launch)", but the "to launch" part is really just Okrand's
>clarification - "to launch" as opposed to "to explode" or "to turn into
>small fish". <ghuS> is similar to English words like "armed", "loaded",
>etc. For that reason, the locative makes me think the missiles are IN
>the enemy city.
>
>There are lots of ways to say this. Here is one: <jagh veng 'oH DoS'e'.
>ghuS'a' cha?>
{ghuS} means "make ready", not "be ready". The clarifying "to launch"
is further clarified as "to launch {torpedoes)". The subject is the
person doing the preparation, and the object is usually torpedoes.
{ghuS'a' cha} asks if the torpedoes are ready to launch torpedoes, not
if they themselves are ready to be launched. What we need here is to
ask if the torpedoes are ready to *be* launched. Try {cha ghuSlu''a'?}
-- ghunchu'wI'