tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Nov 20 08:02:41 2006
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Re: I should kill you where you stand
mIq'ey:
> >This is understandable in context, but it is not evidence for a general
> >conclusion that "ordinary English verbs may be semantically either
> >subjunctive or indicative according to context."
QeS:
>No, but that's because English *has* subjunctive forms. "Would", "could" and
>"should" are all subjunctive modals, which are in contrast to their
>indicative forms "will", "can" and "shall". There are also ways (no longer
>common ways, but ways nonetheless) of forming subjunctive verbs from
>indicative ones. (Compare the now almost obsolete distinction between "If I
>was..." and "If I were..."). Klingon has no morphological structure that
>compares to this, and going on the available evidence, which I admit is
>scanty, I think it is reasonable to merely use Klingon indicative forms in
>order to represent subjunctive mood.
QeS found these examples of Klingon indicative forms translated by the
English subjunctive:
Klaa: qIrq vIjeylaHchugh...
(If I could defeat Kirk...)
Vixis: qIbDaq SuvwI''e' SoH Dun law' Hoch Dun puS.
(You would be the greatest warrior in the galaxy.) ST5
and I found a couple more:
naDev juHlIjDaq cha'logh jISopneSchugh vaj jIquv.
It would be an honor to eat twice here at your house, your Honor. PK
HIja' [unintelligible] wISuqnIS (??)
"Yeah, we should get him a thank you card." (Hallmark)
QeS is right: Klingon does not have a grammatical subjunctive. (This
probably reflects Okrand's view of Klingons as realistic and existing in
the here and now; not dwelling on the "would have", "could have", "should
have" or "might have been".) The closest thing it does have is the Type 6
suffix {-law'} "it seems (to be), apparently, seemingly" which can
sometimes be used express possible or (un)likely actions - one of the uses
of the subjunctive:
This suffix expresses any uncertainty on the speaker's part
and may even be thought of as meaning "I think" or "I suspect".
(TKD 40)
Even then, it's a very loose fit. {-law'} and the other Type 6
qualification suffixes - {-ba'}, {-bej} and {-chu'} - are more about
expressing the speaker's certainty about an action rather than possibility
or actions contrary to fact:
Like Type 3 noun suffixes, these suffixes show how sure the
speaker is about what is being said. (TKD 39)
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons