tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Dec 10 14:58:49 1996

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RE: KLBC: latlh vImugh

December 09, 1996 6:56 PM, jatlh HurghwI':

> >SuDchoHpa' wovwI' bIjaHchugh, Duqop yaS.
> 
> I wanted to say he'll give you a ticket, but I didn't want to find something
> to mean "ticket." With luck he won't arrest you on the spot!

Qo'noSDaq qu'qu' yaSpu'!  (Say that aloud . . .)

> >> DaqI'chugh, SoHvaD Huch law' vInob.
> >> "If you sign it, I will give you lots of money."
> >
> >Other than the fact you'd have to be signing a *treaty*, this is fine.
> 
> Do you suppose a contract can be used with this verb? That's what I was
> trying to get at.

I don't know.  I don't know if Okrand meant "sign, as in a treaty" or "sign a 
treaty."  I *don't* think it refers to the act of putting your name on a piece 
of paper (but I could still be wrong).

> >> len wItaghnISbej qeltaHvIS noHwI' ruv nobmeH.
> >> "We must certainly have recess while the judge deliberates in order to
> >> dispense justice."
> >
> >Ick.  This is a bit complicated, and the best thing to do would be to break 
it 
> >into several sentences.
> 
> I put it into one sentence to make it more of a challenge.

wejpuH.  I don't mean to say that you should make it into several sentences 
because you can't handle it.  I'm saying you should make it into several 
sentences because *Klingon* can't handle it.  Read through TKW.  You'll see a 
lot of English sentences which are long and complex broken down into nice, 
easy parts for the Klingon.  That's the way Klingon works.  That's 
(apparently) *how* Klingons speak it!

> >ruv qelnIS noHwI' 'ej wuqnIS.  len wItagh.
> >The judge needs to consider justice and decide.  We will begin recess.
> 
> The judge doesn't consider justice. He considers evidence, and then
> dispenses justice. I was looking for "enforce."

You don't need individual words, you need whole ideas.  If you don't like the 
idea of "considering justice," then say something else.

ghu' qelnIS noHwI' 'ej wuqnIS.

or even

qelnIS noHwI' 'ej wuqnIS.

> >> yIghoS, jupwI'! SoHvaD HIq vIje', 'ej majawlaH.
> >> "Come, my friend! I will buy you a drink, and we can talk."
> >
> >Almost perfect!  {-laH} indicates that one is *able* to do something.  
Unless 
> >you've got a very strange set of circumstances, the person is always able 
to 
> >chat, so you don't need the {-laH}.
> 
> One can always talk, but to me, _chatting_ can only be done comfortably in
> the correct situation.

I don't have any reason to assume that Klingons agree with you.  In fact, 
since there's no word for "comfortable" in Klingon, I doubt that you are 
correct.

> BTW, how strict are Klingons in using "can?" I would
> think a use such as this would be allowed, because they don't differentiate
> between "should," "can," and "may."

I won't start using it just because English speakers do this with the English 
equivalent!  English uses "can" a lot, but it doesn't really do much a lot of 
the time.  Not to put words into your mouth, but your "I will buy you a drink 
and we can talk" sentence is really not referring to being *able* to talk.  It 
means "I will buy you a drink and we *will* talk."

-- 
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 96944.4

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