tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Nov 06 10:15:18 1995
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-jaj
>Date: Fri, 3 Nov 1995 18:19:21 -0800
>From: "R.B Franklin" <[email protected]>
>> yuch DaSuqchugh chongaghjaj'a'?
>>
>> I think it sounds like an honorable, hopeful request. How did I do?
>Both {-jaj} and {-'a'} are Type 9 suffixes and therefore, you can't place
>them together. {-jaj} is used to express that the speaker wishes
>something to occur in the future, so {chongaghjaj} means "May you mate
>me" and it doesn't make a lot of sense to make it a question by adding
>{-'a'}.
>I would say something like {yuch DuSuqmeH bIngaghqang'a'?} (Are you
>willing to mate (in order) to get chocolate?)
All correct. I'd like to expand a little on a point that needs making
here.
I've seen a lot of use of -jaj lately; a lot of overuse. It's something we
should really be aware of and look out for. I recently saw someone on the
newsgroup translate "Maybe" as "'oHjaj," for example, clearly basing
himself on the one-word gloss "may" that TKD shows. But that isn't what it
means. The problem shows up on many levels; I've been editing quite a few
extraneous "-jaj"'s out of the Hamlet draft.
Let's go back to TKD. It says (p. 175), "This suffix is used to express a
desire or wish on the part of the speaker that something take place in the
future." That's it. Nothing about "possibility" or anything. So "'oHjaj"
means something like "May it be it." (example: "tlhIngan Hol 'oH'a'
HollIj'e'?" "ghobe'." "'oHkjaj!"---is Klingon your language? No. May it be
[your language]!) "Maybe" would be "chaq" or "DuH" (actually, there's much
to be said for "DuH" when used in isolation). A good way to think of
"-jaj" is something like "I/we [the speaker] hope that things turn out such
that X happens." So, "'Iw bIQtIqDaq bIlengjaj" is "I hope that "'Iw bIQtIq
bIleng" happens", i.e. I hope that you travel the river of blood; I will
that it be so.
Similarly, people have been using it a lot for first-person commands.
Here, I think I may have slightly less ground to stand on... but I doubt
it. "wa'leS maghomjaj" does not mean "let's meet tomorrow." It means "I
hope it turns out that we meet tomorrow" (e.g. if we're both wandering
around a large battlefield, it would be nice if we bumped into each other.
"May we meet.") For "let's meet," simply say "wa'leS maghom" (or maybe
"Ha', wa'leS maghom"), or for more strength "wa'leS maghomnIS." Klingon
doesn't have first-person imperatives, and pretending that "-jaj" is one
doesn't make it so. I dunno about canon support for this. I know that in
the abortive conversation at the beginning of CK (I think), the ill-fated
Terran says "majatlhchuqjaj" as a way of trying to open a conversation with
the Klingon. I'm disinclined to place much trust in this construction,
since after all it got him killed. Perhaps part of this was phrasing it in
such a roundabout way ("Gee, it would be great if stuff worked out so we
conversed some time later on" instead of "We need to talk"). Whereas, at
the end of the tape (or is it the other), when the well-informed Terran is
being impressive at dinner, his host says something like "maSoppu'DI'
majatlhchuq" for "we'll talk after dinner"---basically "let's talk after
dinner." No "-jaj". In the Time Magazine article of a few years ago, we
see "tachDaq maghom" for "we'll meet in the cocktail lounge" (a suggestion
if ever I saw one). I don't know if this is canon; I don't know who
provided the Klingon for them.
So generally, 9 times out of 10, if you find yourself using -jaj a lot, you
probably should think... are they really indicating wishes, or
recommendations? -nIS or nothing should replace just about all of the
latter. And "chaq" if it's possibility.
~mark