tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Sep 09 19:12:01 1996
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Re: how?
96-09-09 00:08:22 EDT, jatlh trI'Qal:
> qelI'qam 'ar lo' Duj?
>
> Well, qelI'qam may not be the right unit of measure, but I think you get
the
> jist.
OK, let's say "meter." {"meter" 'ar lo' Duj?} "How many meters does the ship
use?"
If I didn't already know the topic, I'd be very hard-pressed to follow that.
I don't think {lo'} is the right verb here.
I've thought of a "temporary" solution (until someone comes up with a better
one). What do you think?
tIn Duj. "meter" 'ar?
At first I thought to add {'oH} to the end of this, to make the second
sentence complete, but then I realized that something cannot *be* a meter
(unless it is a stick with little black lines on it, etc.) Unfortunately,
the whole problem is that there are no verbs for "measure" or "be a length,"
so I couldn't express it this way.
By the way, I think "being" a meter and "having" a meter are semi-idiomatic
expressions. If you "have" a meter, you're apparently holding that stick. I
know some languages use these expressions, but we have no idea what Klingon
does.
SuStel
Stardate 96692.3