tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jul 24 19:38:10 1996
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Re: philosophy - I think, therefore I am.
On Tue, 23 Jul 1996, ghunchu'wI' wrote (referring to others posts):
> [{jIQubtaH, vaj jIH} vs {jIQubtaH, vaj jIHtaH}]
> I prefer to believe that the very concept of "just existing" is one that
> simply cannot be expressed in tlhIngan Hol, and dismiss the problem.
I agree and I'd like to expound. I know of no way to express "to exist"
in tlhIngan Hol. And I strongly feel that pronouns are NOT it. I'm sure
those more capable of scouring the canon will correct me if I'm wrong,
but "to exist" has never yet been expressed in tlhIngan Hol. The
dictionary gives examples of using pronouns to describe oneself (race,
profession, etc.) or one's location, but the one opportunity Okrand had
to use a pronoun for "exist", he refused and instead used {taH} for a
slightly different connotation.
I feel that Okrand specifically didn't want a way for Klingons to discuss
the existence of things. To a Klingon mind, something either exists, or
it doesn't. There's no discussion to be had. If for some reason a
Klingon were actually to stumble upon the idea of "I think, therefore I
am." it would prove to him that he exists and he would no longer need to
say it.
Another pithy phrase destroyed by the Klingon mind set!
janSIy