tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Feb 26 04:17:54 2007

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RE: tlhingan-hol Digest V4 #56

Agnieszka Solska ([email protected]) [KLI Member] [Hol po'wI']

>From: Doq <[email protected]>

>Enough arguing. Show me how you say, "I have served you for the past
>year." It is a simple sentence. You have shown me that you have the
>skill to shoot down my suggestion.

What I had to say about your suggestion I said in my last two emails, 
including the one in response to which you wrote the words I'm quoting 
above. One of the things I said was:
---------------------------------------------

From: "Agnieszka Solska" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Topic (was: Re: Dilbert Comic in Klingon for February 9, 2007)
Date: Sun, 25 Feb 2007 19:12:46 +0000

:then why not use the {qIbDaq SuvwI''e' SoH Dun
:law' Hoch Dun puS} canon example to express the idea that
:using {'e'}  as topic and not focus, it can set the boundaries
:for an otherwise  infinite statement so that {wa'ben'e' qatoy'taH}
:would generally be  interpreted as "I have served you for the
:past year."?

Sentence {qIbDaq SuvwI''e' SoH Dun  law' Hoch Dun puS}
literally means: "In the galaxy, as for warriors, you are
the greatest." Somehow this example leads you to believe that
{wa'ben'e'}, literally "as for a year ago", would "generally be
interpreted" as "for the last year". I am skeptical if this is
indeed the "general" understanding of this phrase but until
other proficient speakers of Klingon present their opinions
I have no way of knowing if my skepticism is justified.
---------------------------------------------
I have nothing else to add.



>Show me that you have skill enough
>to offer your own.

But I already gave you my translation! Here is the relevant fragment of my 
message:
---------------------------------------------
From: "Agnieszka Solska" <[email protected]>
Subject: Topic (was: Re: Dilbert Comic in Klingon for February 9, 2007)
Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2007 16:02:40 +0000

(...), to indicate
duration in "I have served you for the past year"
I would use {qaStaHvIS} (...) and say either

   {qaStaHvIS wa' DIS qatoy'taH} or
   {qatoy'taH qaStaHvIS wa' DIS}

To be really emphatic I might add an otherwise
redundant (poH):

   qatoy'taH qaStaHvIS wa' DIS poH.

Naturally, since Klingon doesn't mark tense these sentences would also mean
"I served you for one one year"  or "I will be serving you for one year".
---------------------------------------------



I'm sure you noticed that fragment since you commented on it:
---------------------------------------------
From: Doq <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Topic (was: Re: Dilbert Comic in Klingon for February 9, 2007)
Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2007 15:44:57 -0500

Well, there is the small matter of not knowing whether you are
talking about last year, next year, or a period one year long that
occurred fifty years ago or will occur fifty years from now. {DIS}
has no time stamp. It is only a duration.
---------------------------------------------

Since Klingon has no category of tense, the problem of the time reference 
might be resolved by
1. context and/or common knowledge of the participants of the exchange
2. adding the point of reference to the statement, as in :

  wa'ben qatoy'choH 'ej qaStaHvIS wa' DIS qatoy'taH.

'ISqu'

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