tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Apr 10 18:27:05 2008

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RE: HISlaH/ghobe' with negative questions

Elizabeth Lawrence ([email protected]) [KLI Member] 

The "Yes, I didn't" "No, I did" thing is really rather ambiguous in english too.  To avoid confusion, the easiest thing to do in either language is to simply restate the question.
With your example
HIja', vIchot (yes, I murdered them)
HIja', vIchotbe' (yes, I didn't murder them)
ghobe', vIchot (no, I murdered them)
ghobe' vIchotbe' (no, I didn't murder them)
are all clear and acceptable responses to the question
Dachotbe''a' (Did you not murder them?)
Some languages have specific features which serve to disambiguate this specific situation, such as the French "si" but neither english nor klingon have such features.
be''etlh

> Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2008 01:39:48 +0200
> From: [email protected]
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: HISlaH/ghobe' with negative questions
> 
> A friend of mine (jaGni, on #klingon [IRCnet]) asked me if
> {HISlaH}/{ghobe'} works differently in Klingon than in English --
> specifically when the question is negated. And after much searching I
> found I could not answer. So now I seek your wisdom.
> 
> TKD (dictionary section) says this:
> 
>   {HISlaH} "yes", "true" (answer to yes/no question) (excl)
> 
> But that could be interpreted both ways... Can't it? Let me give you an example:
> 
> {Dachotbe''a'?} "Did you not murder them?"
> 
> English:
> 
> "Yes." = I did.
> "No." = I didn't.
> 
> Klingon:
> 
> {HISlaH.} = "True; I did not."
> {ghobe'.} = "False; I did."
> 
> (If I understand correctly, this is how japanese does it.)
> 
> or
> 
> {HISlaH.} = "Yes; I did."
> {ghobe'.} = "No; I did not."
> 
> Is there any consensus on this? (More than just "avoid negative questions"!)
> 
> /maHvatlh
> 
> 

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