tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Feb 01 03:43:29 1996
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Accident, purpose, happenstance or choice?
- From: "Lord Havelock Sinister" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Accident, purpose, happenstance or choice?
- Date: Thu, 1 Feb 1996 11:43:17 GMT
- Organization: North East Wales Institute
- Priority: normal
- Return-Receipt-To: "Lord Havelock Sinister" <[email protected]>
In reply to Jeremy Cowan's points raised about the use of -wI', I
would like to add the following:
>The real question here is ... just what does "one who does be white"
mean?
Did you mean someone or thing which just happens to be white, or
something whose purpose is to be white (e.g. a whitewashed porch)?
If you examine the entry for the verb "white," it reads as "white, be
white (v)." It's the same for other similar verbs ("absentminded, be
absentminded," "red, be red," "big, be big" etc); something that _is_
big, for example, translates in English as "the big thing."
If the condition is an accident, rather than design (e.g. a door
which is white, rather than a device designed to contain things - a
container), the usage is simple; the verb form follows the noun, in
the manner of an adjective (bearing in mind Marc Okrand's instruction
on adjectives in TKD). So, for example, a "white door" is <lojmIt
chIS,> a "big thing" is <Doch tIn,> and "the ignorant fool" is <qoH jIv.>
The word for "container" of <ngaSwI'> is a good choice: it is a
device whose purpose is to contain things, hence the need for the
<-wI'> suffix. The same goes for the term "probe" of <nejwI'> since
it is a device designed to search. Hence the lines spoken by Vixis in
STV: The Final Frontier:
DoS wIpuSpu' We have sighted a target.
nejwI' tIQ 'oH It is a probe of ancient origin.
Or something like that. Similarly, a "killer" is <HoHwI',> an "eater
of Terran food" is <tera'ngan Soj SopwI'> and a "fighter" is <SuvwI'>
because, as sentient beings, they are capable of making the choice to
do these things (or, like engineers and helmsmen, they are qualified
to do their assigned jobs).
I am currently unsure of how to derive the term for "paint" of any
colour (let alone the general term for "colour" - two more terms to go
onto the Okrand Wish List) but I would describe the terms "white
container" and "white probe" as <ngaSwI' chIS> and <nejwI' chIS>
respectively, because their condition (that of being white) is an
accident, rather than design or purpose.
Even if the choice of condition was deliberate (e.g. "I hate that
silly Romulan" <romuluSnganvetlh Dogh vIpar> or "Give me the yellow
book" <jIHvaD paq SuD yInob>), the condition of the object is still
an accident, since "being silly" is not the Romulan's purpose (or
choice!), and "being yellow" does not affect the contents of the book.
But if I was to say something like "The food is in the freezer"
<taDmoHwI'Daq 'oHtaH Soj'e'> I use <-wI'> because the device was
designed to freeze things. The reply of "But this cold food is
useless to me" <'ach jIHvaD lI'be' Sojvam bIr> does not need <-wI'>
because its condition, "being cold," is an accident. It just happens
to be cold. It was never designed to be cold.
... Oh, my Goddess, What was I on last night? I'm spouting philosophy
here. Enough said. If you want to discuss "accident vs. purpose,"
start reading Kant and Russell. Me, I'm off to reground my thoughts
in some serious Kirk and Picard ... ;-)
I only hope I've been of help.
peqIm: I am a Discordian. If you have felt confusion from any of the
above, I'm only too glad to have executed my religious duties ... ;-) But
email me with your connents, in any case; I value your feedback.
Lord Havelock
*******************************
"Maybe it's because I run into so many people who are hostile, simply because they can't open their minds to the possibilities,
that sometimes the need to mess with their heads outweighs the millstone of humiliation." -Special Agent Fox Mulder
email me on [email protected]. Just call me Lord Sinister