tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Feb 28 19:55:47 1994
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a better translation for the "revenge" proverb
- From: [email protected] (Mark E. Shoulson)
- Subject: a better translation for the "revenge" proverb
- Date: Tue, 1 Mar 1994 08:54:05 -0500
- In-Reply-To: Erich Schneider's message of Mon, 28 Feb 94 15:54:48 CST <9402282154.AA04085@ bush.cs.tamu.edu>
>From: [email protected] (Erich Schneider)
>Date: Mon, 28 Feb 94 15:54:48 CST
>For "revenge is a dish best served cold":
>bortaS jabnISlu'chugh, nay' bIrjaj.
>I assume I have done "-jaj inversion" correctly here?
Um, we really don't have any evidence for a global "-jaj inversion." I
think our esteemed Krankor, author of the article which discussed it, would
be the first to admit that these inversions represent old, fossilized
forms, and for newly-coined usages of "-jaj", there is no evidence that
they should be be reversed. In fact, he *does* say so (HolQeD 2:4, p.7: "I
say the rule [of -jaj inversion] 'can be applied' to all given -jaj
sentences. That is not the same as 'must be applied.'... No, the
implication is that this is a special rule for specific, ritualized
utterances." So far as Okrand told us about the use of "-jaj", aside from
toasts which are specifically flagged as unusual in the tape, there is
nothing special about -jaj that makes you have to reverse word-order. So
for sentences you coin, unless Okrand tells us different, leave the
word-order alone.
>-QumpIn 'avrIn
~mark