tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jul 01 22:07:16 1997
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Re: KLBC: qIm/qImHa'
- From: "Neal Schermerhorn" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: KLBC: qIm/qImHa'
- Date: Wed, 2 Jul 97 03:57:38 UT
ghItlhta' ghot law'; ~mark jabbI'ID 'oHvam
>>The definition is of the intransitive sense of "concentrate". In fact, since
>>we have buS = concentrate on (v) as well, qIm clearly is an intransitive
verb.
>
>Huh? It's clearly *capable* of being used intransitively, but then so is
>pretty much every transitive verb. Just because there's another verb with
>a similar, transitive meaning doesn't mean this one MUST be intransitive.
This was based on my (correct?) understanding of SuStel's interpretation of
dictionary entries. If it says "throw up", we cannot assume the verb can take
an object like in "I throw up in the paper bag." We must use a locative in
that sentence, and others will require a different Type-5 suffix on the
'object-qoq'.
The point is, qIm has an intransitive definition. This would imply, within
this interpretation, that qIm is an intransitive verb. But perhaps the
'literal-definition' interpretation is flawed; then we could use an object.
Now, what stops me from going willy-nilly throwing objects on any old
'intransitive' verb? Common sense?
>So, ENGLISH doesn't have an intransitive "disregard." Klingon can. To
>disregard whatever was under discussion, or just generally to walk around
>in a daze and disregard the world in general. Works for me.
I would rather interpret 'concentrate' as transitive than 'disregard'as
intransitive. I would understand vIqImHa' as 'I disregard it' to satisfy your
first example (which implied an object to be disregarded), and would use jIjIv
as 'I am ignorant' for the other example.
But let's go back to the beginning... -Ha' does mean 'undo' or 'do wrongly'.
Both these definitions would seem to yield qImHa' = divert attention, as in
vIleghbe' jIqImHa'mo' = I didn't see it because I diverted my attention (lit.
'mis-concentrated' or 'concentrated badly'). This would SEEM like the real
meaning, but it isn't exactly the same as 'disregard', is it?
jIwuQ!
Qermaq