tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Sep 28 13:53:01 1996

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Re: (KLBC) Re: tlhIngan Hol chu' ghojwI'. jIH ghaj pung.

96-09-28 12:06:16 EDT, vay''e' pongbe'bogh trI'Qal jang HoDma':

> Looking at your second sentence, I think you are trying to say "have
mercy".
>  I'm not sure if "having" mercy is idiomatic or not; I would suspect it is.
>  Hopefully, one of the people who know better than I will look at this, and
>  make a comment one way or the other.  In the meanwhile, I will treat this
as
>  if it were okay...

latlh qeS DaneH vaj qajang.  'ej bItlhobmo'qu', Dungvo' "KLBC" vIteqbe'ta'.
 lughchu' mIwvam, qar'a' HoD?  {{:-)

[You want someone else's advice, so I'll answer.  And because you asked, I
haven't removed "KLBC" from the top.  This was the correct thing to do, right
Captain?]

"Having mercy" is probably idiomatic, since one can "be merciful," mean
exactly the same thing, and yet not *possess* something.  However, there is
at least one other example in Klingon (perhaps more), which exhibits this
sort of idea:

pIch vIghajbe'
"It's not my fault."  (TKD, opposite inside cover and p.170)

I also seem to remember another example, but I don't know the reference:

DIch vIghajbe'
"I'm not sure."  (ref: I may have made this up myself; DIch vIghajbe'!)

Anyway, it shows that one may "have" certain ideas, like "fault" or
"certainty," and this idea might even extend to "mercy."

Here's one final reason that this sentence makes sense: since "mercy" is a
noun, how else are you going to use it?  There is no Klingon verb "be
merciful."

SuStel
Stardate 96744.2

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