tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Aug 18 05:16:29 2000

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RE: [KLBC] Doubt with nuq and 'Iv



ja'pu' pagh:
>'Iv ghaH yaS'e' DaHoHta'bogh?

ja' Voragh:
>Sorry, pagh: SVO.  This one means: "The officer whom you've killed is who?"
>You've reversed subject and object.

Qo'.  There's no reversal going on in the Klingon -- it's the *English*
question which is turned around backwards.  It's hard to pin down exactly
which is subject and object with a "to be" question in English, but in
sentences like "Who is he?" the interrogative pronoun is generally
considered the object.

>Even though you're asking for the same
>information in both questions, they are different stylistically.  Tremal's
>question should be translated:
>
>  yaS DaHoHta'bogh ghaH 'Iv'e'?
>  Who is the officer whom you've killed?

Remember that the original question was supposed to be more like "Which
officer did you kill?"  Putting {'Iv} as the subject suggests to me a
translation closer to what you think pagh's sentence meant.

-- ghunchu'wI' 'utlh




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