tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Apr 30 08:54:25 2008
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Re: Klingon WOTD: ja' (verb)
>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Wednesday, April 30, 2008.
>
>Klingon word: ja'
>Part of Speech: verb
>Definition: tell, report
Used in canon:
yIja'Qo'
Don't tell him! TKD
yIja''egh
Tell yourself! TKD
peja''egh
Tell yourselves! TKD
qaja'
I tell you. TKD
qaja'pu'
I told you. TKD
qaja'qang
I am willing to tell you. TKD
nuja'rup
They are prepared to tell us. TKD
HIja'neS
Do me the honor of telling me. TKD
choja'chugh
if you tell me TKD
choja'pa'
before you tell me TKD
choja'Qo'chugh
if you won't tell me (if you refuse to tell me) TKD
qaja'pu' HIqaghQo'
HIqaghQo' qaja'pu'
I told you not to interrupt me.
(I told you, "Don't interrupt me!")
("Don't interrupt me!" I told you.) TKD
nuja' tlhIngan wIch ja'wI'pu'
According to Klingon legend... S8
{ja'chuq} "discuss, confer"
ja'chuqmeH rojHom neH jaghla'
The enemy commander wishes a truce (in order) to confer. TKD
maja'chuqjaj?
Can we talk? PK
'uQ wISoppu'DI' maja'chuq.
We will talk after dinner. PK
Discussed by Okrand:
TKD 65: The verb is made up of {ja'} "tell}, {-chuq} "each other"; thus,
"confer" is "tell each other".
TKD 67: Similarly, with verbs of saying (say, tell, ask, etc.), {'e'} and
{net} are not used. The two phrases simply follow one another, in either
order: {qaja'pu' HIqaghQo'} or {HIqaghQo' qaja'pu'} "I told you not to
interrupt me". This is literally, "I told you, 'Don't interrupt me!'" or
"'Don't interrupt me!' I told you." [...] An aspect marker (here, {-pu'}
"perfective") may always be attached to the verb of saying, regardless of
whether it is the first or second verb."
Will Martin interviewed Marc Okrand on verbs of saying (HQ 12/1998):
WM: And a typical direct object of {ja'} would be the person addressed
and a typical object of the verb {jatlh} would be the thing you say.
MO: The speech event.
Pun notes:
In ST3 "The Klingon is {qama'pu' jonta' neH!}; the original script had the
English as "I told you: engine only!" ({qa-} "I/you"; *{ma'} "tell"; {-pu'}
"perfective"; {jonta'} "engine"; {neH} "only"), but it got rewritten in the
subtitles to "I wanted prisoners!" [...] The verb {ma'}, meaning "to tell",
was changed to {ja'} to remove the ambiguity of the sentence and make the
substitution less obvious." (marqoS)
"And, of course, the addition of the verb {ma'} "accommodate". So now,
{qama'pu'} means "I have accommodated you", perhaps in a tongue-in-cheek
swipe at Paramount by MO." (Holtej)
Related verbs:
{jatlh} say, speak; {qel} consider; {ghoH} argue, dispute; {ngach}
debate; {Sutlh} negotiate); {bep} complain, object, gripe; {yu'} interrogate
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons