tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Feb 21 07:05:28 1996
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Re: KLBC: poHmey
On Tue, 20 Feb 1996, Garrett Michael Hayes wrote:
> > >poH HIja'
> >
> > Yes, there is something wrong with it.
> > {poH} doesn't refer to "what time it is". It refers to a "period of time".
> > The closest we have to "the time of day" is {rep} "hour".
>
> I'm not sure I understand this limitation on meaning. TKD, on page
> 157 associates <poH> with time as a verb, as well as the simple noun
> form "time" and the form "period of time".
Well, look at p. 78, in the introductory remarks to the dictionary.
Okrand states that entries in the Enlish->Klingon side begin with the
word that the user would most likely be looking for, followed by the
correct translation. This causes some ambiguity in some cases, but
not this one. So, on the English side, /poH/ is listed under "time", and
then given the correct translation, "period of time." But, if you look
under the Klingon->English side, there's only "period of time."
> > [And it uses that "verb-suffix-indicates-indirect-object" construction
> > that I find so distasteful, but that's my problem, not yours.]
>
> I'm not at all sure I understand this. I am using no verb suffix
> that I know of. The verb in this sentence is <ja'> with the
> imperitive *prefix* <HI> (you-me). The construction is a command
> intended to transalte as "tell me (the) time!" Am I missing
> something subtle?
No, ghunchu'wI' meant "prefix", not "suffix." But his point is valid.
What's the object of the sentence /poH HIja'/? It's the
3rd-person-singular /poH/. What object is indicated by the imperative
prefix /HI-/? First-person singular, "(you)-give-me". They don't agree.
So, it has been argued that, the verbal prefix can be used to indicate
what would be the *indirect* object in the English, as in "you give to
me". This is how people interpret /qajatlh/ and so on. ghunchu'wI'
finds this grammatical usage particularly unsavory.
> Even if <rep> *is* required, wouldn't <rep HIja'> make sense? ("tell
> me (the) hour!")
Same comments as above apply.
> 'etlhqengwI'
--Holtej