tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jul 25 06:09:29 1996
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: philosophy - I think, therefore I am.
ghItlh A.Appleyard:
\ {X tu'lu'} = "one finds X" has been suggested: but X existing is not
\ the same as someone discovering it.
Nevertheless, {tu'lu'} is given in TKD 4.2.5 as the Klingon equivalent
of English "there is", which is an idiomatic expression referring to
existence ("There is X" does not mean simply that "X is (over) there").
In fact, the common expression of existence in any language is almost
always idiomatic; c.f. Spanish "hay", French "il y a", German "es gibt"
- all of which refer to existence, but make no use of any verb meaning
"to exist". Several Terran languages even use the same "one finds X"
form as Klingon. All of the languages named above also have a verb
meaning "to exist", but then they also have a lot of other vocabulary
that Klingon doesn't, because Klingon is simply a much smaller
language. I think it's quite possible to get along without such a verb.
jang ghunchu'wI':
\ If X is observed, it exists. If X is not observed, it...is not observed.
\ The concepts are indeed separate. But if X actually does not exist, then
\ there is no reason to discuss it, and in my mind there is no need for any
\ sort of a verb saying it doesn't exist.
I think {tu'lu'be'} works fine for nonexistence. It's again part of the idiom -
after all, the most common way of expressing nonexistence in English is
"There is no [such thing as] X", which means more than simply that X
doesn't happen to be over there at the moment.
-marqoS
--
Mark J. Reed |
Email: [email protected] | HP Internet/System Security Lab
Voice: +1 404 648 9535 | 2957 Clairmont Rd Suite 220
Fax : +1 404 648 9516 | Atlanta GA 30329-1647 USA