tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Nov 16 10:10:01 1997
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Re: same verb for "to X" and "to cause someone to X"
- From: Alan Anderson <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: same verb for "to X" and "to cause someone to X"
- Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 12:33:28 -0500
- In-Reply-To: <[email protected]>
ja' "Anthony.Appleyard" <[email protected]>:
> Are there any Klingon verbs that can mean both "to X" and "to cause to X"?
>"If I burn" in Klingon (jImeQchugh), am I the stoker or the fuel?
As people have already indicated, {meQ} looks like one of the words that can
have either meaning. But the example {meQtaHbogh qachDaq Suv qoH neH} isn't
grammatically unambiguous. It's possible that "a house which burns" refers
not to a house which is on fire, but instead to one which causes other things
to be burned. The phrase "a burning house" in English is slightly ambiguous
as well, though the context in which the phrase was used on Star Trek seems
pretty clearly to indicate that the house itself is in flames.
I think the real rough spot with {meQ} is the example from Power Klingon,
where {Ha'DIbaH meQ} is translated "burnt animals".
-- ghunchu'wI'