tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Feb 25 14:18:17 1999
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Re: ra' (Re: qama'; and others)
Marc Okrand wrote:
>"All four words asked about ({tul} 'hope', {Qub} 'think', {Sov} 'know', and
>{SIv} 'wonder') can be used in the construction {S 'e' V}, [...]
>it's OK to say ... {tlhIngan Hol Dajatlh 'e' vISIv} 'I wonder if you speak
>Klingon'.
DloraH:
: This is interesting considering that in the recent interview in the latest
: HolQeD, MO said that he didn't know how SIv worked.
:
: What cannon do we have on ra' ?
: do you command the person, or can you (also) command an 'e' ?
charghwI':
> Definitely a person. {'e'}, while likely, gets a bit weird
> around the edges. I'd want to see Okrand do it before I got too
> fired up about the prospect.
According to "cannon", one can definitely {ra'} a person:
qara'DI'
as soon as I command you TKD
cha yIbaH qara'DI' = qara'DI' cha yIbaH
Fire the torpedoes at my command. TKD
qara'pa'
before I command you TKD
chay' jura'
What are your orders? ("How do you command us?") TKD/ST6
And you can *perhaps* {ra'} a ship:
qIvo'rIt toQDuj 'oH tlhIngan wo' Duj pagh'e'. ra' qarghan HoD.
The Imperial Klingon Vessel Pagh is a K'Vort-class Bird-of-Prey
under the command of Captain Kargan. S7
{ra' qarghan HoD} either means "Capt. Kargan commands" or "Capt. Kargan
commands it (the Pagh)".
juDev 'ej Dujvam ra'wI' DagheS 'e' vItlhob
I ask you to lead us as commander of this ship
("I request that you lead us and that you assume the duties of
commander of this ship.") KGT
Clutching at an even thinner straw, although {Dujvam ra'wI'} is here
translated as "commander of this ship", it just MIGHT imply that {Dujvam
ra'} is also possible. Sometimes you can get clues to transitivity from
how the derived {-wI'} noun behaves in context. IOW this {-wI'} noun
phrase might be derived from {(Duj ra')+wI'}: a "ship-commander", as
opposed to all other types of specialized commanders (fleet-commander,
squadron-commander, etc.), or a more generalized "ship's commander"?
Hardly convincing, I know.
But as for "commanding an {'e'}", the evidence, such as it is, is
inconclusive. We do know that {ra'} can take an object, but as to whether
there are any restrictions on the type of object it can take - only people,
groups of people, things (ships? computers?) - well, I can just see Okrand
smiling enigmatically now.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons