tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Apr 06 08:16:49 1999

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RE: KLBC - a really short story



Dave:
>>I wanted to say "he can't speak Klingon well", but "he can't speak
>>Klingon" is the best I could do

pagh:
>The best way to say this is <tlhIngan Hol jatlhlaHchu'be'>. It's a lot of
>suffixes, but it gets the idea across pretty clearly.
 
DloraH:
: When I read this I thought of <tlhIngan Hol jatlhchu'be'>, leave off the
-laH.
 
Leave it on.  pagh correctly translated "he *can't* speak/he's not able to
speak Klingon well" which addresses ability: e.g. people tell me that he
can't speak Klingon well, though he may not be speaking it at the moment
(perhaps he's shy or embarrassed) so we can't judge for ourselves.  Without
the {-laH} this means "he doesn't speak/isn't speaking Klingon well",
perhaps at the moment (as we can all hear for ourselves) or in general
whenever he tries to speak Klingon.  

It's a slight difference in emphasis (theory vs. practise) which Dave
appreciates, though I admit these two English idioms frequently mean the
same thing to careless speakers.


-- 
Voragh                       
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons



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