tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Nov 26 17:43:57 2002
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RE: Klingon WOTD: Sam (v)
- From: Eric Andeen <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: Klingon WOTD: Sam (v)
- Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2002 16:48:01 -0700
Quvar:
> > This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Tuesday, November 26, 2002.
> >
> > Klingon word: Sam
> > Part of Speech: verb
> > Definition: locate, seek and find
>
> So this verb includes all these three meanings, to look for
> something and then find it? (as opposed to {nej} which is
> only searching)
>
> Sometime ago, some friend of mine asked me if it makes sense
> to say {vISampu'}. The apparent problem was that suffix
> {-pu'} makes something happened, without intention. The
> aspect suffix {-ta'} is used when you've accomplished
> something that you definitely wanted to. I think this is
> correct so far, please correct me if not. Now, what does
> {Sampu'} mean?
>
> I'd say that {vISamta'} sounds like "I located it, I did seek
> it, and I did find it, which I wanted, and now it's
> accomplished" {vISampu'} is "oops, I found it"??
>
> Maybe it's the meaning of {Sam} that I'm not sure of...
First off, <-pu'> does not imply lack of intention. It's just not the focus
fo the sentence.
For example, if asked to go out for food, I would often say <jISoppu'> - "I
have already eaten" - to decline. That doesn't mean that I was going about
my business, with no thought to eating, and a sandwich suddenly jumped in my
face. It just means that the point of the statement is simply that I have
eaten, and consequently I don't want to eat again.
On the other hand, if I was having a particularly busy day and was not sure
I would be able to make it to lunch, later in the day I would probably say
<jISopta'> to a coworker who asked if I managed to get to the cafeteria
before it closed. The emphasis here is that I set a goal of getting
something to eat, and I accomplished it.
Since <-pu'> does not imply lack of intention, I think it can be used on
<Sam> whenever you like. But even so, I think the verb <Sam> itself doesn't
always imply intention. For example: <paq Doq vInej, 'ach paq SuD vISam> -
"I was looking for the red book, but I found the blue book".
pagh