tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jan 11 21:05:48 2001

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Re: Grammar Highlight Each Day (-Daq = into, onto, to, toward)

There are enough trifling vocabulary issues in this one Grammar Highlight
to compel me to address them.

ja' peHruS:
>(juH = house; -Daq = at, to, towards, in, into, onto; qet = runs; loD = man,
>male)

Watch out -- {juH} is "home", not "house".  The distinction is occasionally
important, as in when discussing {juHqo'} "the homeworld".

>(HIvje' = goblet, cup, glass; HIq = ale, wine, beer, liquor; qang = pours
>into; jabwI' = server)

{qang} means "pour (from one container into another)".  The word "into" is
not part of its meaning; its idea must be carried with the {-Daq} suffix on
the destination container.

[For the example sentence of "pours the ale into the goblet", I think the
verb {lIch} "pour (into-onto anything)" is more appropriate.  {qang} seems
to want the translation "pour out" instead of just "pour" here.]

>qaghDaq ghevI' lIch jabwI' = The server pours the sauce onto the Ghak
>(qagh = serpent worm served alive as food; ghevI' = sauce for Ghak; lIch =
>pours onto)

[{qagh} is sometimes served dead, but that's an aberration.]

My above comments about {qang} apply here as well -- {lIch} doesn't
actually include "onto" in its meaning.

The customary non-Klingon spelling of {qagh} is "gagh".  That's how it
appears in KGT (and the Star Trek Encyclopedia).  [For what its worth, the
on-screen pronunciation is typically closer to {gaH}.]

While I'm nitpicking words' translations, I might as well complain about
the recurring references to {targh} as a "dog-like" animal.  It doesn't
look *anything* like a dog to me.

-- ghunchu'wI' 'utlh

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