tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Apr 22 20:26:36 2003
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Re: KLBC How Smooth...
From: "Alan Anderson" <[email protected]>
> "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.
I didn't present /HabtaHghach/ because I didn't want to talk about
"continued smoothness." Although it could be accepted a little squirmingly,
and it certainly works grammatically, it's not REALLY what we mean.
Besides, what's the answer to "How much continued smoothness does your
mother have?" Three? 17? A lot? What kind of answer is there that
actually answers "how much?" /'ar/ is asking for some kind of quantified
noun phrase.
It works marginally, but I think any Klingon school teacher would get out
the painstik and teach the child who used such a construction blindly a
lesson.
SuStel
Stardate 3307.4