tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Apr 26 13:26:51 2004

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Re: a little bit pregnant?

De'vID jonwI' ([email protected]) 

De'vID:
>>Can <-laH> be used in this way?  It seems that the question is
>>really intended to ask "How *do* I say...?" rather than "How
>>am I *able* to say...?".  The way "can" is used in everyday speech
>>in English is a bit sloppy.

QeS lagh:
>I don't want to know the ways I'm *not* able to say "liquid", and I do want 
>to know the ways I am able to say it. I'm certainly able to say {Subbe'; 
>bIQ rur}, but if I don't communicate what I want to communicate, I'm still 
>not able to translate "liquid".

What's bothering me about the use of <-laH> here is that when
someone asks, "*How can* I say X?", what they really mean is
"*How do* I say X?" or "*What do* I say when I want to say X?"
It seems to be the wrong type of question (when taken literally),
but is understood in English because "How can" is an idiom.

For example, "What are your orders?" is translated as <chay'
jura'> "How do you command us?".  An English "what" question in
this case best maps onto a Klingon "how" question.  When you
ask a question like <chay' jIjatlhlaH, X?>, I feel like the
response of a Klingon would be either a blank stare or
<bItlhuHlaHmo', nujlIj DapoSmoHlaHmo'...>.  In other words,
"How can" maps to "How do" in English, but I'm not sure that
it does so in Klingon.  When I see <chay' X-laH> I see this
as "How do I have the ability to do X" (because you have been
taught to do so, because you have the necessary equipment to
do so, etc.), which isn't the question you wanted to ask.
Maybe I'm just being too literal-minded.

--
De'vID

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