tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Aug 10 06:26:56 1994
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Re: Translated Phrase
- From: d'Armond Speers <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: Translated Phrase
- Date: Wed, 10 Aug 1994 17:55:16 -0400 (EDT)
> > > 'Die with your teeth in your enemy's throat and your name on his
> > > tongue.'
> > >
> > > So far, what I have is this:
> > >
> > > biHeghvIS jaghlI' HughDaq Ho'Du'lIj yIlan 'ej jatDajDaq ponglij yIlan
> >
> > Well, you need {-taH} go go along with that {-vIS}. Or, you could use
> > {-DI'}: {bIHeghDI' ...}.
> >
> So when do you use {-taH}, and when don't you. I got the impression
> that dying was something that you do once, not continuously. If it's a
> case of being continuous because you're doing something else at the same
> time, then I don't understand when to distinguish between doing
> something and doing something continuously. As far as I can tell, if
> anything, {-taH} seems overused - some actions don't need a continuous
> marker - if I sing, then it is only continuous if I sing for a very
> prolonged period, or if I do it on a regular basis.
It was more a grammatical concern than a semantic one: TKD 4.2.9
instructs us that {-vIS} requires {-taH}. I don't think tht the idea
is that you die continuously, but that the rest of the sentence, teeth
on throat, etc., occurs while you are dying. It was this kind of
semantic mind-bending that lead me to suggest {-DI'} over {-taHvIS}
anyway.
> Yours, puzzled{-taH}
Yours in clarification,
--Holtej