tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Apr 22 19:17:00 2003
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Re: KLBC How Smooth...
>From: "Quvar valer (Lieven)" <[email protected]>
>
>> >Hab 'ar SoSlI Quch - does this mean "how smooth
>> >is your mothers forehead"?
>>
>> To ask "How [adjective] is something?", I don't know how to say. It's
>tricky, and there has been a discussion about this here lately, but I
>don't remember
>> the result. Others on the list certainly do. *hint* ;-)
ja' SuStel:
>There is no way to do this in Klingon. You have to word it differently.
>
>One way is to ask about a specific condition...
>Another way is to phrase it as a command...
About a year ago, Captain Krankor tried to do it by using {'ar}
adverbially. I took him to task for putting out such unattested grammar
while acting as Beginners' Grammarian, and I presented a formulaic
translation for the concept which pretty much shut off his claim that there
wasn't any other way to do it without extreme effort.
"How Q is X" can be recast as "How much Q-ingness does X have?" The new
phrase is easily translated into Klingon as {Q-taHghach 'ar ghaj X?}
"How smooth is your mother's forehead?"
"How much being-smooth-ness does your mother's forehead have?"
HabtaHghach 'ar ghaj SoSlI' Quch?
It's not always going to be the best way to say it in any particular
situation, but it's a valid option.
-- ghunchu'wI'