tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Dec 09 12:52:55 1998

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RE: KLBC - permission vs. ability

lab SIHwI':

One general comment - I don't know if Klingons would understand "go to the
bathroom" as anything other than travelling to the bathroom. I don't know
what particular idiom they use, but I suspect it is a bit more direct -
something like <puch lo'>.

> I remember in elementary school, students asking the teacher "can I go to
the
> bathroom?",  and the teacher correcting them by saying "you mean 'MAY I go
to
> the bathroom?'".  I wanted to convey this in Klingon, how did I do?
 
> can I go to the bathroom:  puchpa' vIghoSlaH'a'?

maj.

> At first I thought maybe:  puchpa' vIghoS'a'?   
> but I thought this sounded like asking IF I was going to the bathroom, 
> sort of "am I going the right direction to the bathroom?"
 
> so this is what I came up with:  puchpa' vIghoS 'e' Dachaw''a'?
> or would this be better:               puchpa' bIghoS 'e' chochaw'?

The first is definitely better. In the second one, you have a typo (<bIghoS>
should be <vIghoS>). The "who" involved in asking permission is known
already from the <puchpa' vIghoS>. You don't need to call it out again with
the indirect object prefix trick on <chaw'>.

This is perfectly correct as the *most literal* way of asking permission,
and is most likely the way Klingons would ask permission in formal
situations. In military situations, there is certainly a protocol for this
sort of thing, and I would guess it does not involve <... 'e' Dachaw''a'>.
In less formal social situations, they may well do things differently.
Perhaps they simply state their intentions to whoever they need to get
permission from, possibly adding a <-neS>, and assume they can do what they
want to unless told otherwise. Here's an example:

puqloD: vav, DaHjaj ram lupDujHom vIngIpneS.
vav: Qo'. DaHjaj ram bIHaDtaH.

*CAUTION* - I'm *NOT* saying this is how it works; just pointing out a
possibility. <... 'e' Dachaw''a'> is definitely correct, so don't be afraid
to use it.


pagh
Beginners' Grammarian

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