tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jul 03 15:37:38 1997
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Re: KLBC: qIm/qImHa'
- From: "Neal Schermerhorn" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: KLBC: qIm/qImHa'
- Date: Thu, 3 Jul 97 22:36:07 UT
ghItlh charghwI':
>taj lo'laH vIlo'laH. "I can use the valuable knife."
nuQaH vuDlIj 'ej qatlho'. DaH rut vuDlIj vIHon 'e' vIQIjneS.
I fully agree that lo'laH = be valuable (v) is an unusual construction. It can
mean "it can use it" or "it is valuable" - but context will usually help us.
But -- vIlo'moHlaH = "I cause it to be useable." And, according to
suffix-order advice I recieved here not long ago, it also is "I cause it to be
valuable." Not quite the same. I await MO's opinion on suffix order on complex
verbs such as this, so perhaps the ambiguity will not last much longer. And,
as we all know, ambiguity is inherent in all languages -- but Klingon ought to
avoid it as much as possible, in the interest of accuracy (PK).
lo'laH appears, without its confusing gloss, to mean "be useful" -- and we
also have the suspiciously similar lI' for that. The only canonical use of
lo'laH I am aware of is in the addendum, in the -ghach discussion. Perhaps
(and this is sheer, brash speculation) the gloss of lo'laH in question is
there to allow for the use of -ghach to form the noun "value" (lI'ghach is
likely illegal). This would depend on -ghach being one of the things conceived
of but not included in the original dictionary.
>nab pegh vISov. "I know a secret plan."
TKD shows pegh = keep something secret (v). To write the above sentence, I
would choose nab peghlu'bogh vISov = I know a plan which is kept secret. Where
is there a canonical use of pegh = be secret (v)?
>I mean, in English, can you think of a verb which is the
>antithesis of "concentrate"? Would you be happier if {qImHa'}
>were translated as "zone out, space out, behave in the manner
>of a space cadet"?
Well, yes, I would! qImHa' seems, without regard to its given definition, to
mean "be poorly attentive" or "be lacking in concentration". It doesn't matter
that there's no English word to one-to-one correspond to it.
My assumption at this point is that either qImHa' is a transitive verb which
is irregular (yuck), or is awkwardly glossed in TKD, and has an intransitive
meaning.
MO has hinted (in response to my query) about a POSSIBILITY of another edition
of TKD -- he was, I believe, purposely vague. Still, the possibility of a text
to cover these unknowns is something to be hoped for. numISHa'taHjaj 'ej
numISqa'taHjaj!
Qermaq