tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Sep 02 14:32:58 2002
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Re: Deconstructing {law'/puS}
>ja' tulwI':
>>reH latlh qabDaq qul tuj law' Hoch tuj puS.
>>The fire is always hotter on someone else's face. PK
>>
>>if you analise it this way:
>>
>>reH latlh qabDaq <qul tuj law' Hoch tuj puS>.
>>
>>then it means "always on someone else's face, fire is the hottest."
>>i repeat that this would be strange. i mean, this proverb probably
>>don't say that on someone else's face you cannot find something
>>hotter than "fire", but that you cannot find something hotter than
>>"fire on someone else's face."
>
>Why do you believe it means the second wone rather than the first?
the two interpretations i mean, are:
1. on someone else's face there is nothing hotter than fire, i.e.
another face cannot have something hotter than fire.
2. there is nothing hotter than fire on someone else's face. (i think
that is what is meant.)
i think that the message of the proverb is that the fire on someone
else's face seems always hotter. (like "the neighbour's weed seems
always greener".) the first interpretation doesn't mean that, the
second one does. cf.: the first interpretation would be like "in the
neighbour's garden there is nothing greener than his weed.", whereas
the second one really is: "nothing is greener than the weed of the
neighbour's garden".
any questions left?
> >so "fire on someone else's face" must be the a-argument.
>
>I can see it quite differently. How about this:
>
>The A noun is simply {qul} "fire". B is {Hoch}, making it a superlative
>construction. {reH latlh qabDaq} modifies the Q verb {tuj} "be hot", not
>the noun.
>
>So the comparison is between things which [always are hot on another's
>face], and it says that fire is the thing which is superior to everything
>in that comparison.
ok, but: what the heck is the meaning of this proverb, then?
is there an example when this proverb has been used, in what kind of situation?
> >how can we say "fire on someone else's face"? for example: "latlh
>>qabDaq qul tu'lu'bogh", right? then it would make sence:
>>
>>/reH <latlh qabDaq qul tu'lu'bogh tuj law' Hoch tuj puS>./
>>
>>_this_ is "the fire on someone else's face is always the hottest."
>
>Right. But the proverb could easily be "on someone else's face, fire is
>always the hottest." Especially since that's what it says. :-)
if that is what it is, then please explain to me: what does it mean
that on someone else's face, fire is always the hottest. what does it
mean?
> >if the former sentence has the same meaning, then these two sentences
>>are equal:
>>
>>/reH latlh qabDaq qul tuj law' Hoch tuj puS./
>>/reH latlh qabDaq qul tu'lu'bogh tuj law' Hoch tuj puS./
>>
>>and that would mean that /latlh qabDaq qul/ and /latlh qabDaq qul
>>tu'lu'bogh/ are be equal.
>
>"If" is a powerful word. It can summon monsters from the vasty deeps. The
>question is then whether or not the monsters answer the summons...
so what's the meaning of the proverb, i'd like to know.
tulwI',
sts.