tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Mar 18 19:30:14 2002
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how to say completely
Hello
I was trying to write a table in some languages with some degree concepts.
There are 5 degrees and a question. That's what I've got in Klingon:
people:
(every) Hoch - everybody
(much) nuv law' - many people
(some) 'op nuv - some people
(little) nuv puS - few people
(no) pagh - nobody
(question) nuv 'ar - how many people
things (I):
(every) Hoch - everything
(much) Doch law' - many things
(some) 'op Doch - some things
(little) Doch puS - few things
(no) pagh - nothing
(question) Doch 'ar - how many things?
things (II):
(every) Hoch paq - all the books
(much) paq law' - many books
(some) 'op paq - some books
(little) paq puS - few books
(no) pagh paq - no book
(question) paq 'ar - how many books
frequency:
(every) reH - always
(much) pIj - often
(some) rut - sometimes
(little) pIjHa' - seldom
(no) not - never
(question) 'arlogh - how many times
certainty:
(every) {wot}-bej - certainly
(much) ghaytan - likely
(some) chaq - perhaps
(little) ghaytanHa' - unlikely
(no) {wot}-be'bej - certainly not
(question) (???) - how certainly
intensity:
(every) (???) - completely, certainly
(much) {wot}-qu' - really, very
(little) {wot}-qu'be' - not really, not very
(some) loQ - slightly, a little bit
(no) {wot}-be'qu' - not at all, really not
(question) (???) - how
I got three gaps I don't know how to fulfill. The two ones that worry me are
the intensity words.
How can I say things like: "how strong are you", "how tasty is your food",
and "I'm completely healthy", "I hate you totally", etc.?
I don't feel comfortable with using {chu'} to fulfill this gap, since it's a type 6 suffix, and
although one of its meanings is "perfectly", it's quite clearly written (TKD p. 39) that this
suffix shows how sure the speaker is about what is being said, and I would understand
from this that it has nothing to do with the intensity of the action.
But the examples of the usage of this suffix contradict this:
jIyajchu' - "I understand clearly" instead of "it's clear that I understand"
baHchu' - "he fired perfectly" instead of "it's perfectly clear that he fired"
I'd like to receive opinions and suggestions about this.