tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Nov 12 17:10:04 2002
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Re: KLBC: Worst Case Scenarios
>> vISopmeH joch'a'?
>> Is it harmful for me to eat (it)?
>>
>>Although this sounds a little awkward in English, it's perfectly fine in
>>Klingon.
ja' SuStel:
>Forgive me if someone has already mentioned this, but doesn't this fall into
>the /QIpmeH Qatlh'a'?/ problem?
It's only a "problem" if you insist on treating the description of {-meH}
in TKD as having enough authority to render invalid a simple two-word
example of actual usage. :-)
That said, I agree that it does sound like a misuse of the "purpose" idea.
A careful analysis of the English idea shows that the word "to" in "is it
harmful to eat" is actually part of the infinitive verb form, making "to
eat" act as a noun, with "it" referring *forward* to that noun. I believe
that the Klingon is a too-literal translation of what is basically a
sentence as subject.
-- ghunchu'wI'