tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jan 15 07:08:57 1997
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Re: KLBC Good
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>Date: Tue, 14 Jan 1997 19:34:45 -0800
>From: "David Trimboli" <[email protected]>
>
>January 13, 1997 11:28 PM EST, qeyloS:
>
>> That helps for those specific phrases.
>> But I'm really looking for advise on how to use "good".
>
>The point is, it entirely depends on what you're trying to say. English goes
>crazy with the word "good"; it covers lots of meanings. Not so in Klingon.
>{QaQ} is describing a quality for something. It's the opposite of {qab}. I
>can't really tell you more than that without knowing what you want to say.
>
>> Was your vacation good.
>> Is this writing good.
>> Is your computer good.
I think the problem here is less how to use "good", but the fact that some
of the examples use verbal nouns ("writing"), or nouns we don't have
("vacation"). This makes the red herrings.
How to use "good"? Well, like any other stative verb in Klingon, and any
other "good" in other languages. The question is pretty simple.
The book is good. QaQ paq.
Is the qagh good? QaQ'a' qagh?
The restaurant is not good. QaQbe' Qe'.
None of this is really remarkable or specific to QaQ as opposed to any
other verb.
Now, since we don't have a noun "vacation", and besides it makes a more
specific question to ask "did you enjoy vacationing?" we'd probably say
"bIghIQ 'e' DatIv'a'?" instead (you could do "QaQ'a' ghIQpu'ghachlIj" or
something, which would be grammatical at least, but likely sound really
weird). And so on.
What is the relationship between the meaning of "QaQ" in Klingon and "good"
in English? (insofar as you can talk of a single meaning for "good" in
English) We can't say. Likely they're fairly close in meaning and in
extent, or Okrand might have noted something about it. That gets back to
the difficulties of pinning down meanings in the one-word definitions
Okrand gives us.
~mark
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