tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jul 29 16:58:47 1996
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Re: Words for God
- From: [email protected] (Alan Anderson)
- Subject: Re: Words for God
- Date: Mon, 29 Jul 1996 19:03:08 -0500
A.Appleyard writes:
> TKD says that:-
> (1) "the bold commander" = {la' jaq}
> (2) "the commander is bold" = {jaq la'}
> (3) "the commander is boldest" is {la' jaq law' Hich jaq puS}
You miscopied {Hoch} "all" as {Hich}...
> Thus, for "the commander who is boldest", is {la' jaq law'bogh Hich jaq puS}
>correct?
I don't think this works. The {law'/puS} comparitive construction is a
pretty rigid formula. The {law'} and {puS} probably can't be messed with
at all.
>Or what? 5 extra syllables to merely express superlative seems a lot.
Count those syllables again, sir. The english phrase has eight syllables,
while the Klingon has merely seven. A grammatically proper superlative in
Klingon is only four syllables longer than a similar descriptive sentence:
{qu' targh} -> {targh qu' law' Hoch qu' puS}. In english, these would be
"the targ is fierce" -> "the targ is the fiercest of all", also an extra
four syllables.
-- ghunchu'wI' batlh Suvchugh vaj batlh SovchoH vaj