tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed May 14 07:35:39 1997

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Re: Must

again, it was me who said:
> >I think {jISopnIS} translates best as "I need food"; no "real" verb
> >there, emphasis on the nouns "I" and "food". "need" merely relates
> >the two. In Klingon {-nIS} _modifies_ the _sentence_ {jISop} in
> >its entirety, all the information contained in that is equally
> >relevant for {-nIS}.
> 
ghunchu'wI' replies:
> I'm sorry, but I disagree completely with the way you're translating it.
> {jISopnIS} quite definitely means "I must eat" or "I need to eat."  The
> sentence "I need food" doesn't say the same thing.  It might imply that
> I have to eat, but it doesn't come out and say it.  "I need food" would
> be rendered as {Soj vIpoQ}, and could be spoken by someone shopping for
> groceries even if the shopper isn't hungry at all.
> 
ok... I hope this answers SuSvaj's queation too:
for one thing, there are certainly several different ways to translate
"I need food" into Klingon, depending on the context; if indeed the
speaker was expressing his hunger, {jISopnIS} is one possibility - or
is your point above, that an English speaker would not use "I need food"
in that sense?
for another, I'm probably (heavily) influenced by my mother tongue :),
which is German: the literal translation of "I must eat" into German
lacks 'something' (out of context neural backfire: say 'friend' and enter),
I'd have to say "I have to eat something" ("Ich muss was essen" for those
who need to know :); so I don't see "I need food" too far from "I need to
eat"

> The distinction between "need [a noun]" and "need to [do something]" is
> quite clear in my mind.  {-nIS} is like the other Type 2 verb suffixes,
> describing choice or predisposition to *act*.  As a verb suffix, it has
> an effect on the *verb*; it doesn't emphasize the nouns in the sentence
> at all.
> 
I think, I was trying to say the same thing _about Klingon_ not about
English (or maybe better: not about German)

I didn't say {-nIS} _emphasizes_ anything, I said it _modifies_ the whole
verb _including_ the prefix; as I quoted before, Type 2 verb suffixes
describe the choice or predisposition _of_the_subject_ to act.
_both_ subject _and_ action are described by them
(btw, by saying it modifies the prefix, I obviously extend this
modifying business to the _object_ as well, if one is specified)

HomDoq

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