tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Nov 03 16:06:36 2003

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Re: {rutlh} cha'DIch

Steven Boozer ([email protected]) [KLI Member] 

Quvar wrote:
>jaj 01.11.2003 17:40:31, ghItlh SIvten:
> > {rutlh} 'oH "wheel"'e' 'e' vIHarbe'pu'.  DaH vIyajbej.
> > 'ach nuqvo', chay' ghap DaSov'a'?
>
>   [snip]
>
>last: this is not *wrong*, but in Klingon it's always better to make clear 
>what the object of the verb
>is. {DaSov} is not "you know THAT" but it's "you know IT". If one intends 
>to point on "that", then
>say it: {chay' 'oH DaSov} "how do you know that? How do you know IT, that 
>which we talked about?"

That's not quite right.  While the pronoun {'oH} has a specific noun as 
antecedent (e.g. {mu'}, {pong}, {ngoDvam}, etc.), the pronoun {'e'} refers 
to the previous idea or sentence as a whole - whether it's in the same 
sentence, a previous sentence or even if it's a sentence said by someone 
else - as long is the context is clear.  See this exchange from ST5:

   AZETBUR: ghu'maj Dayajbe'law', Sa'.
              (You don't seem to grasp our situation, General.)
            notlh veS... 'a tugh manotlhchoH je maH.
              (War is obsolete, General...as we are in danger of becoming.)
   KERLA:   <<QamvIS Hegh qaq law' torvIS yIn qaq puS.>>
              ("Better to die on our feet than live on our knees.")
   AZETBUR: 'e' neHbe' vavwI'.
              (That wasn't what my father wanted.)
   CHANG:   Your father was killed for what he wanted.

So, if I say to SIvten:

   Quvar 'oH pongDaj'e'.
   His name is Ku'Var.

he can reply:

   'oH vISovbe'.
   I didn't know it (i.e. his name).

or

   'e' vISovbe'.
   I didn't know that (i.e. the fact that his name is Ku'Var).

SIvten's question can now be re-written:

   {rutlh} 'oH <<wheel>>'e' 'e' vIHarbe' ...  'ach chay' 'e' DaSov?
   I didn't believe that "wheel" is {rutlh}... But how did you know that?



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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