tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Aug 04 09:43:19 1995
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Re: }} yoD Hov'a'
- From: "William H. Martin" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: }} yoD Hov'a'
- Date: Fri, 4 Aug 1995 09:43:19 -0400 (EDT)
According to [email protected]:
>
> >I think {ratlh} "remain" should be used for the opposite of "go away".
> >If you're trying to say the device kept your car cool, there's a large
> >collection of suffixes to choose from.
>
> How do we say, "I ate half the tart and half remains."
>
> Would
> chab bID vISoppu' 'ej chuv bID
> work?
One technical point is that the English uses simple past tense
while the Klingon uses the perfective. They can mean
essentially the same thing if you change the English to mean,
"I have eaten half the tart..." This is one of those places
where present perfective and simple past can essentially mean
the same thing, but it is important to realize that there is a
grammatical difference so you are not frustrated when you try
to express the past perfective, since your habit may have been
to always express simple past as present perfective, leaving
you feeling awkward when you REALLY want the perfective.
Meanwhile, I agree with your use of {bID}. "Half of the tart"
or "the tart's half" both make good sense, so as a noun-noun
construction, this works fine. As a noun, {bID} stands alone
quite well in the second clause. I also like your use of {chuv}
instead of {ratlh}, showing that you are respecting the meaning
of the sentence more than the literal, word by word translation.
majQa'
> Awaiting comments
>
> peHruS
charghwI'
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