tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Mar 14 21:00:35 1994
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Help, please
- From: [email protected] (Mark E. Shoulson)
- Subject: Help, please
- Date: Tue, 15 Mar 1994 09:58:40 -0500
- In-Reply-To: Topic Goran's message of Tue, 15 Mar 94 15:19:23 MET <[email protected]>
>From: Topic Goran <[email protected]>
>Date: Tue, 15 Mar 94 15:19:23 MET
>> I understand how to use the law' puS construction for things like "She is
>> bolder than he is," but what if you want to compare two different qualitative
>> states, e.g., how do you construct something like "It is better to be dead
>> than to be a slave" or "Klingons are better then Terrans" or (my favorite)
>> "Better crippled in body than corrupt in mind"?
>>
>> Do you still try to stuff these into the law' puS construction? It seems to
>me
>> that to do so would not only make these phrases unneccessarily cumbersome, b
>ut
>> would fail to translate the *meaning*. Please help.
>>
>> KoSneH
>mu'meywIj DalaDqangbe'chugh jabbI'IDvam yIlIj.
>I do not see the comparation of two different qualities.
>You use 'good/better' in all three cases. I am not sure about my grammar
>(pabpo'pu' yIQaH!) but I believe it would come out as
You mean, "pappo'pu', HIQaH"? As it is, you have "help the grammarians!"
which we appreciate, but doesn't fit the context too well.
>Heghta'ghach QaQ law' toy'taHghach'a' QaQ puS.
> (death is better than slavery)
> (I hate those -ghach-es. Anybody know a better way out? I'd love to
> hear it)
Well, remember, "Hegh" is a noun by itself, so you can replace at list the
first one with just "Hegh". I don't like them either, frankly. Can we put
"-DI'" clauses in law'/puS constructions? Probably. I'm not sure I can
make something nice using those either...
>tlhInganpu' QaQ law' tera'nganpu' QaQ puS
Yep. This one's straightforward.
>porgh lI'be' QaQ law' yab qal QaQ puS
> (Can I do lI'be' useless adjectivally? Can adjectival verbs take be'?
> If not, then lI'be'bogh porgh)
As it happens, "lI'be'" is actually used canonically as an adjective, in
the tape CK, where Okrand says "wa'maH yIHmey lI'be'" for "ten useless
tribbles". Good nominalization, by the way.
>Qapla' qoranvo'
~mark