tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Jul 26 19:57:58 1996
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Re: Klingon "was"
- From: [email protected] (Alan Anderson)
- Subject: Re: Klingon "was"
- Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 22:02:27 -0500
[email protected] writes:
>I was in the engine room = jonta'pa'Daq jIHpu'
>
>Although -pu' is not a tense word, rather is aspect, it still indicates that
>the action is complete. The sentence implies that the speaker is no longer
>in the engine room.
I don't think the perfective aspect says anything about having *stopped*
the action, merely that it is complete. The sentence {pa'Daq jIHpu'}
"I have been in the room" could easily apply even if I were still there
while I was speaking.
"I was in the engine room" is a straighforward {jonta' pa'Daq jIH}. The
lack of an explicit marking of tense isn't a problem. Really. If someone
asks where you were, your answer is expected to answer that question. If
someone asks where you are, or where you will be, ditto.
{nuqDaq SoH?} "Where are you?"
{qarI'taHvIS nuqDaq SoH} "Where were you while I was calling you?"
{maSaqDI' nuqDaq SoH} "Where will you be when we land?"
All of these could be translated with different tenses. Other context
indicates what the real intent is. For instance, if we landed an hour
ago, the third question would be understood to mean "Where were you when
we landed?"
-- ghunchu'wI' batlh Suvchugh vaj batlh SovchoH vaj