tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jan 02 07:54:29 2007
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Re: Klingon WOTD: tlhob (verb)
>This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Monday, January 1, 2007.
>
>Klingon word: tlhob
>Part of Speech: verb
>Definition: ask, request plead
Used in canon:
qatlhob
I ask you. STC:KLS
lutlhob <<naDevvo' vaS'a'Daq majaHlaH'a'?>>
They ask him, "Can we get to the Great Hall from here?" PK
juDev 'ej Dujvam ra'wI' DagheS 'e' vItlhob
I ask you to lead us as commander of this ship.
("I request that you lead us and that you assume the duties of
commander of this ship.") KGT
>Additional Notes:
>TKD-A adds the meanings of "request, plead."
In the original edition of TKD, we have {tlhob} "ask". The addendum
gave it the expanded meaning of "request, ask, plead". Now KGT gives
us {ghel} "ask (a question)". Which one do we use as a verb of saying,
and why? Is there a proper way to use either or both in a non-saying
way?" (ghunchu'wI')
What I wanted to do with {tlhob} and {ghel} is to distinguish between
two different meanings for the English verb "ask". There are two "ask's".
There's the "ask" where you ask a question and there's "ask" where you
make a request. I wanted it to be two different verbs, though apparently
there are times when the "request" verb is used to ask a question as
well [e.g. PK: {lutlhob <<naDevvo' vaS'a'Daq majaHlaH'a'>>?] So maybe
the way it works is that {ghel} can ask a question and only as a ques-
tion and the other one can mean that and is also used to request or
plead or something like that. (Marc Okrand, HQ 7:4)
Related verbs:
{qoy'} "plead, beg"; {poQ} "demand, require"; cf. {yu'} "interrogate"; ant.
{jang" "answer"
N.B. There are no known examples of {qoy'} "plead, beg" - perhaps not
surprising, as the action seems very un-Klingon!
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons