tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat May 02 22:32:17 1998
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: copulas (was Re: KLBC: ghojtaH nIDegh)
mujang Voragh:
>: I never think of the "to be" use of Klingon pronouns as a copula.
>: ..."X is Y" goes against the way I interpret pronouns as "to be".
>
>Think again. Though there are indeed many "X is a Y" examples in canon:
>[...]
>and "X is in/at Y":
>[...]
>there are definitely several "X is (the) Y" examples as well:
>
> nuqDaq 'oH puchpa''e'
> Where is the bathroom? TKD
>
> nuqDaq 'oH jengva''e'
> Where is the plate? KGT
>
> nuqDaq 'oH ngop'e'
> Where are the plates? KGT
These are all examples of "in/at" usage.
> qerq Duj 'oH
> That's Kirk's ship! ST5
This works the same way as with a type 4 noun suffix on the object -- the
possessive structure makes a definite article unnecessary in the English.
I see the sentence acting not to equate "it" and the ship, but to categorize
it as one.
> Qu' buSHa'chugh SuvwI', batlhHa' vangchugh, qoj matlhHa'chugh,
> pagh ghaH SuvwI''e'
> If a warrior ignores duty, acts dishonorably, or is disloyal,
> he is nothing. TKW
"Nothing" in English is usually a collective noun and wouldn't get the word
"the" in front of it anyway, but "he is a nothing" or "he is a nobody" fits
my interpretation just fine.
> bortaS nIvqu' 'oH bortaS'e'
> Revenge is the best revenge. TKW
>
> ya ghaH qImlaq Sogh'e'
> Lieutenant K'mlak is the tactical officer. KGT
>
> yaS wa'DIch ghaH qImlaq la''e'
> Commander K'mlak is first officer. KGT
The translations here all say "X is (the) Y" but I don't see that there is
an equivalence implied. "As for revenge, it is a *superior* revenge." The
way I see it, the other two can be interpreted as saying K'mlak is a member
of the set of tactical/first officers. The extracontextual knowledge that
there's only one of those officers on a ship is what makes "the" the right
way to say it in the translation.
> veH Qav 'oH logh'e'
> space--the final frontier. (SkyBox DSN99)
I think this really means "As for space, it is a final boundary." The only
reason it's translated "the final frontier" is because that's the Star Trek
catchphrase it is meant to parallel.
> pa' 'oHtaH vaS'a''e'. tlhIngan qum waw' 'oH.
> This is where the Klingon Great Hall is located, the center of the
> Klingon government. (SkyBox S27)
The first sentence is an "in/at" example. The second one is a bit troubling
for me; I'm not really sure how {waw'} "base" should be taken. In English,
"the center of the Klingon government" is quite obviously a unique thing;
{tlhIngan qum waw'} isn't as obviously unique, so it does seem to call for
an "identity" interpretation.
> 'entepray' 'oH DoS'e'
> Enterprise targeted!
> ("The target is Enterprise!" ST5
Ouch, this one would work *much* better in my mind if it were the other
way around. I'm going to have to remember this sentence; it's the only
one that I can't easily rationalize as fitting my interpretation. It's
also one that isn't written down anywhere, though... :-)
>And these are only {'oH} and {ghaH}. Finding examples of other pronouns
>used as copulas is left as an exercise for the reader.
I didn't scour the text of TKD or KGT, but I did look through the "useful
phrases" of TKD and all the TKW sayings without finding any undeniable
copulas.
-- ghunchu'wI'