tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Feb 20 08:52:26 1997
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Re: Need some clearification.
- From: Steven Boozer <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: Need some clearification.
- Date: Thu, 20 Feb 1997 10:51:22 -0600 (CST)
:DaraQ is asking for help:
:> > I have a question in my postal course that asks for a Klingon Translation
:> > "I see fools everwhere in this army."
:> > which I translate as <Dat mangghomDaq qoHpu' vIlegh>
:
:SuStel offers:
:> My judgement is that your sentence is fine. {Dat} is just as much a locative
:> as {mangghomDaq} is, it just isn't allowed to use {-Daq}.
:
:but! {mangghom} isn't a location someone is at or approaching, right?
:so shouldn't it be more like {qoH Da mangghomvam negh law' 'e' vItu'}?
:"I find that many of this army's soldiers behave like fools."
:
:HomDoq
But...
"This suffix indicates that something is happening (or has happened or will
happen) in the vicinity of the noun to which it is attached. It is normally
translated by an English preposition: to, in, at, on. The exact translation
is determined by the meaning of the whole sentence. For example, pa'Daq is
pa' "room" plus the suffix -Daq. It may occur in sentences such as the
following: pa'Daq jIHtaH "I'm in the room." pa'Daq yIjaH "Go to the room!"
In the first sentence, jIH "I" is used in the sense of "I am" (see section
6.3), so "in" is the most reasonable translation of -Daq. In the second
sentence, the verb is jaH "go", so "to" makes the most sense as a
translation of -Daq." (TKD p. 27f)
Although Okrand's example is pa' "room", if you really believe that -Daq can
*only* be used on locations that are the destinations of verbs of motion,
how then would you say something like:
"There are some very confusing sentences in Okrand's new book ."
or
"I held a knife in my hand."
or
"There is a traitor aboard this ship."
Finally, look at its figurative use in:
wa' Dol nIvDaq matay'DI' maQap
We succeed together in a greater whole. TKW
Don't make things more complicated for yourself than they are!
-- Voragh