tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Mar 03 08:31:16 1998
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Re: Doubts in some words
- From: [email protected] (Alan Anderson)
- Subject: Re: Doubts in some words
- Date: Tue, 3 Mar 98 10:47:29 EST
wa'Hu' ram mIw vIghunHa'bogh vItu'. Edy jabbI'IDmey So'law' De'wI'wIj
'ej jIHvaD chaH cha'be'. mIw vItI'ta', 'ach jabbI'ID ngo' vIjangnIS.
I discovered last night that I had misprogrammed an email filter some
time ago, and all of Edy's notes were being filed in an obscure folder
without my seeing them.
ja' Edy:
> I thank you for the clarification. I would like
>other explanation for these ones. Could you give me the
>opposites when possible?
Sometimes there aren't obvious opposites. {par}, for instance, has no
simple counterpart; we have to say {parHa'}. Sometimes the apparent
opposites aren't quite perfect, and {-Ha'} is useful then as well.
>non - be rotten /// ngIm - be putrid
>>{non} have decayed or become putrid
> {non} is the first stage before become {ngIm} ?
There probably isn't a sequence implied here. {non} says that
something is decaying or corrupt or unsound or otherwise in much worse
shape than it should be. It usually applies to organic matter: if
insects have eaten the core of a tree, the wood is rotten. {ngIm}
usually refers to something which is emitting a bad odor as a result
of decomposing.
>Sot - be distressed /// 'IQ - be sad /// QoS - be sorry
{Sot} probably means someone is in trouble and requires assistance.
{'IQ} describes an emotional state, the opposite of being happy.
{QoS} is a little ambiguous, but I think it refers to having the
emotion of sorrow. For the other possible meanings of "sorry", we
have {pay} and {tlhIj}.
>poD - be clipped. But it can mean short, quick, in opposite
> of {tIq} - be long or {naQ} - be full, whole ?
Maybe "short, quick" could be an appropriate translation of something
like {SoQ poD} "clipped speech," but I think it would indicate that
each word was spoken in a short, quick manner. I suggest "be chopped"
as a simple alternate definition. Perhaps "curt" makes sense too.
{tIq} is specifically physical length. I'm not sure {poD} is okay for
that sort of thing; I suspect it isn't. There isn't a simple opposite
for {tIq} in its general sense (but see below for a specific one).
{naQ} would work in contrast to {poD}, I think, but they aren't really
opposites.
>tlhIb - be incompetent; can be the counterpart of
> {po'} - be skilled, expert?
Sounds good to me.
>tun - be soft can be the counterpart of {let} - be hard
> or {'ugh} - be heavy?
{tun} is soft like a pillow; {let} is hard like a rock. They refer to
how yeilding something is when you press on it.
{'ugh} is heavy like a bowling ball; {tIS} is light like a paperclip.
They refer to how much weight something has.
>notlh - be obsolet, can be the counterpart of {'Itlh} - advanced
{'Itlh} probably contrasts better with {lutlh} "be primitive". I tend
to think that {notlh} refers to something that's just been surpassed
by better technology or recent popular culture.
>jen - be high, is the counterpart of {'eS} be low and {run} be short
> (in stature) also?
{jen} "be high" and {'eS} "be low" are obvious opposites.
Thanks to one of Okrand's explanations on MSN, we know that {tIq} "be
long" can be used to refer to anything that is measured with {'ab}
"have a length of (one-dimensional measure)". That means it can apply
to spears, painsticks, or people's height. So {run} and {tIq} can be
opposites when talking about someone's stature.
>Thanks again.
Qu'wIj 'oH.
-- ghunchu'wI'