tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Sep 02 02:09:13 1997
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Re: rIghwI'mey vIHoH
- From: Qov <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: rIghwI'mey vIHoH
- Date: Tue, 2 Sep 1997 02:09:06 -0700 (PDT)
At 05:41 PM 9/1/97 -0700, Dawut wrote:
>Qov jatlh:
>>>vIHoHQo'chugh vaj batlh jIHegh.
>>
>>DaHoHQo'qu'chugh batlh bIHegh'a'? DaHoHQo'chugh nuch qar'a' SoH?
>>chaq maS {DaHoHlaHbe'chugh}.
>>(Do you really mean to say you will die with
>>honour if you refuse to kill them?)*
>
>This brings up an issue I have been grappling with, and partially why I
>posted this.
>I have not really been comfortable deciding when to use {-be' } "not" as
>opposed to {-Qo'} "don't, won't" when trying to negate something.
The way to get {-Qo'} and {-be'} straight is not to think of the actual
words "don't" "won't" and "not" but to think of what is being negated.
{-be'} represents general negation, saying or asking that the concept
represented by the verb is not true.
wa'leS 'uQ vIvutbe' - I won't cook supper tomorrow. (Not a refusal, I just
happen to know that I won't cook it tomorrow: I have leftovers.)
loD vISovbe' - I don't know the man.
cheQIHchugh manoDbe''a' - If you wrong us, shall we not seek revenge?
{-Qo'} is negation where someone wills/willed that the action of the verb
not be true. Refusal, or giving a command not to do something.
wa'leS 'uQ vIvutQo' - I won't cook supper tomorrow. (I refuse)
loD vIQaHQo' - I won't help the man. (I refuse to help him)
wa'Hu' jatlhQo''a' qama' - Did the prisoner refuse to speak yesterday?
paq yIlaDQo' - Don't read the book. (A command)
The reason this can confuse is that in English the word "don't" is used to
give a negative command (translated with {-Qo'}) *and* to make a negative
statement in the first person (translated with {-be'}), while the word
"won't" denotes both refusal {-Qo'} and negation in the future tense {-be'}.
{-Qo'} has nothing to do with future tense.
>A friend and I have been saying {jISaHQo'} regarding boring schoolwork,
>but I am beginning to understand that this would mean "I refuse to care"
>instead of the intended "I don't care".
>Our reasoning was that {jISaHQo'} meant "I don't care" (-Qo' "don't,
>won't") and the use of {-be'} would mean "I not care". After
>re-re-thinking this, I see that "I not care" is pretty much what we
>would want to say since tlhIngan Hol works differently than Federation
>Standard.
Your latest reasoning is correct. In fact {jISaHbe'} is in section 4.3 as
an example.
>If I rendered {yIHoHQo'}, would this be "you(imp) refuse to kill
>him/her/it" instead of "you(imp) don't kill him/her/it"?
{yIHoHQo'} is an order not to kill. "Don't kill [him/her/it]." In English
an order not to do something begins with "don't." In Klingon it has {-Qo'}
on the verb.
{-Qo'} can usually but not always be translated "won't" in a statement or
question, and almost always be translated "don't" in an imperative sentence.
The reverse translations are not nearly so dependable.
Qov ([email protected])
Beginners' Grammarian