tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Apr 20 19:43:26 2004
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Re: Probability
- From: "De'vID jonwI'" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: Probability
- Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 22:42:17 -0400
- Bcc:
ter'eS:
>>Someone was wondering last week how to express probability,
>>as in "There's a ninety-nine percent chance of rain today."
jIH ghaH. ;)
ter'eS:
>>I don't think anyone really answered, but I've been musing on
>>it ever since. How about:
>>
>> DaHjaj HutmaH Hut [vatlhvI'] DuH 'oH SISmeH DuH'e'.
>>
>>You could extend this to other types of events, too:
>>
>> SIbDoH'e' vaghmaH Soch vatlhvI' DuH 'oH yuQ paw'meH DuH.
>> "There is a 57% probability that the satellite will hit the
>> planet."
It works, but I'm not sure about the use of <-meH> here, or
<DuH> either. Assuming <DuH> can mean "possibility" in this
sense (which is different from the sense of "option"), the
phrase <SISmeH DuH> "possibility [for the purpose of/in order
to] rain" strikes me as odd. I just don't see "rain" as the
purpose or goal of "possibility".
How about <'eb> instead of <DuH>?
Voragh:
>These seem a bit wordy. Looking at our single example of {vatlhvI'}
>"percent":
>
> cha'maHvagh vatlhvI' Hong; QIt yIghoS!
> Slow to one quarter impulse power. ST5
> (lit. "Twenty-five percent impulse power; proceed slowly!")
Now this is interesting... what is the relationship between the
words <cha'maHvagh vatlhvI'> and <QIt>? Do we know what the
ship's speed was before Klaa issued this command? If the
prior speed had been, say, 10% impulse power, would he have
had to say: <cha'maHvagh vatlhvI' Hong; nom yIghoS!> "Increase
speed to one quarter impulse power" (i.e. "25% impulse power;
proceed quickly!")? Is <QIt> (and hence <nom>) relative?
>we might try a more abbreviated style:
>
> HutmaHHut vatlhvI' DuH; DaHjaj SIS.
> Ninety-nine percent possibility; it'll rain today.
>
> chaq DaHjaj SIS: HutmaHHut vatlhvI' DuH.
> Perhaps it'll rain today: a ninety-nine percent possibility.
Following the <QIt yIghoS> example, I'd stick a <ghaytan>
in there: <HutmaHHut vatlhvI' 'eb; ghaytan DaHjaj SIS>;
<wa' vatlhvI' 'eb; ghaytanHa' DaHjaj SIS>. Of course that
naturally leads to the question of what to use for the,
say, 40%-60% range.
>Vocabulary note: In addition to the noun {DuH} (used in the phrase {Hoch
>DuH yIqel} "Consider every possibility!" [cf. KGT 108-110]) we also have
>the homophonous verb {DuH} "be possible" and its synonym {qIt} "be
>possible", both of which should work for "be probable".
What about <'eb>? I know this has been used in the CK tape (<'eb
Qav!> "last call!")... any other uses that might throw some light
on whether it's appropriate here?
--
De'vID
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