tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jan 03 15:28:35 1996
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Verbs as Objects
- From: "David Wood" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Verbs as Objects
- Date: Wed, 3 Jan 1996 18:22:58 -0500
***** BAD KLINGON FOLLOWS ***** You have been warned.
ghItlhpu' "William H. Martin":
> According to David Wood:
> > jIghItlh wIvoqbe' Hoch jIh je.
> Let's try that again:
> ghItlhwIj wIvoqbe' Hoch jIH je.
> > HIgh jaj QaQ 'oH. (<-- Pending gramattical corrections, natch!)
> I would not know where to begin. {High} is a verb. We have two
> complete sentences mashed together:
> The day fights dirty it is good.
> Keep at it, though. reH maDub.
I'm having a confusion about the appropriate times to use a verb phrase as
a subject or object. The two sentences above are the symptoms.
The first attempt, [jIghItlh wIvoqbe' Hoch jIh je], was supposed to read as
"Even I don't trust what I write." Perhaps I should instead have written
[jIghItlh 'e' wIvoqbe' Hoch jIH je]. The correction from charghwI' translates as
"Even I don't trust my writings," which, while correct, goes against the
"verb-based" nature of Klingon as I've seen it discussed here.
The second I probably shouldn't have tried for two reasons. I wanted to say
"It is a good day to fight dirty," in a way to most closely mirror the classic
mock-Klingonism "It is a good day to die."
First, I probably shouldn't have tried it without finding the actual quote
(frowned upon as it is). As a result, I constructed a sentence which made little
sense.
And second, it was a play on words -- taking advantage of the very slight
difference in text and sound between the words to die ([Hegh]) and to fight
dirty ([HIgh]). And given the Klingon reverence for tradition and procedure, I
doubt any Klingonists will appreciate such a first fumbling attempt at a PUN.
(Whether it's because it's fumbling, or because it's a pun remains to be seen.)
Regardless of the intent, however, it begs the question: what would be the
right way to say those things? I'm trying to point a verb phrase at another verb
phrase, in subordinate clause-like fashion.
English accepts all manner of verb clauses as objects: participles,
gerunds, and that third thing which I can't remember now. Klingon (as practiced
by the purists, anyway) seems just a bit intractable when it comes to phrases
pointing at others.
-- David Wood, Freelance Computer Consultant
("Freelance" is just a cheesy way of saying "Irregularly Employed")