tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Feb 16 11:59:22 2004

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RE: Using the word "not"

David Trimboli ([email protected]) [KLI Member] [Hol po'wI']

>From: "david fourman" <[email protected]>
>
>Hello!  I'm new to the thread but I'd like to ask a question about a 
>klingon expression in TKW.  The phrase is "not qoHpu''e' neH ghijlu'"  Only 
>a fool is never afraid.  When I read this and try to "think" the sentence 
>in klingon, the meaning that comes to my mind is "Never are only fools 
>afraid."  This of course has a completely different meaning.
>   I've given it a great deal of thought since I love languages and 
>cognitive psychology.  In english the trick works well. Compare: Never only 
>fools are afraid. and Only fools are afraid never.  By changing where you 
>put never you change the meaning entirely.
>    If in klingon the word "not" always comes at the beginning of the 
>sentence, how does one differentiate one meaning from the other? The 
>ordering "qoHpu'e' neH not ghijlu'" seems to sound better-it feels right in 
>my head.  This might just be a result of my english speaking thought 
>process but in either case, how does one make the difference in klingon 
>between the two meanings if you can't move the word "not"?

(Please note that the proverb contains an additional, unmentioned error: the 
verb prefix {lu-} is needed when a plural object is combined with the {-lu'} 
suffix.)

You CAN move the {not} to where you want it; {qoHpu''e' neH not lughIjlu'} 
is a valid sentence.  TKD p. 180 explains that if the object noun is 
topicalized, it may come before the adverbial.  There are two ways we might 
interpret this (I'll use the books' phrase {HaqwI''e' DaH yISam} as an 
example):

1. It's a special form that just is.  {HaqwI''e' DaH yISam} "Find the 
SURGEON now!"

2. It's a guide to interpreting the topicalizer suffix {-'e'}.  {HaqwI''e' 
DaH [ghaH] yISam} "As for the surgeon, find him now!"

Either way, {qoHpu''e' neH not lughIjlu'} makes sense.  "One never scares 
only FOOLS."  "As for fools only, one never scares them."  I'm not sure I 
see this as an improvement over {not qoHpu''e' neH [lu]ghIjlu'} "One never 
scares only FOOLS."

Sometimes the exact application of elements in a Klingon sentence is vague.  
This proverb doesn't mean, "It never happens that one scares only fools."  
It means, "One never-scares only fools."  That the adverbial doesn't appear 
next to the verb doesn't prevent this meaning.  Elements of a Klingon 
sentence may not appear in the order you think of them.  {vIchennISqa'moH} 
"I need to cause it to take form again."

Unfortunately, the proverb is simply vague, and we have to live with it.

SuStel
Stardate 4127.9

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