tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jun 14 09:00:47 2000

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RE: Raise your betleH to the stars.....




> The line is /qama'pu' jonta' neH/.  One of the most 
> interesting sentences in
> the history of the development of Klingon.
> 
> It originally meant "I said 'target engines only!'"  /ma/ was "say," and
> /-pu'/ was a past tense marker.  /qa-/ was still the "I-you" verb prefix
we
> know and love today.  /jonta'/ was only "engine," and /neH/ was only
"only"
> (sic).
> 
> Then they changed it to mean "I wanted prisoners!"  /-pu'/ was doubled as
a
> plural marker for people, and /ma'/ was dropped from the vocabulary.

Actually, {ma'} was not dropped, it was changed to "accommodate."  Thus,
{qama'pu'} also means "I had accommodate you," an interesting commentary on
Okrand's having to change the language to account for production changes in
the movie.

> SuStel
> Stardate 453.6

-- Holtej 'utlh

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