tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jan 21 06:25:53 2010

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jatlh vs. ja'

David Trimboli ([email protected]) [KLI Member] [Hol po'wI']

While we know that {jatlh} and {ja'} are the two "verbs of saying," 
there has been little discussion about the difference between the two. 
Some people treat them as if they were interchangeable, and this has 
always bothered me, because I see two very different meanings.

Specifically, {ja'} "tell, report" seems to refer to informing and 
ordering, while {jatlh} "speak, say" has a more general meaning of 
speech of any kind.

If true, one would not expect to see, for instance, Quvar's recent 
sentence, {ja' tera'ngan, <naDevvo' vaS'a'Daq majaHlaH'a'?>} The Terran 
isn't informing the Klingon about anything or ordering him; he's asking 
for information. {jatlh} is required. On the other hand, the second 
sentence, {ja' tlhIngan, <lIchopbe'chugh ghewmey>} works because the 
Klingon is informing the Terran of the answer (there is an implied 
{HIja'} there). But if {jatlh} were used instead, it would still work.

I'm not considering here what the correct object of {ja'} is. Okrand 
discussed {jatlh} in detail, but every use of {ja'} has been 
inconclusive in that regard.

Anyway, this is just the way I see it, and I feel compelled every couple 
of years to bring it up.

-- 
SuStel
http://www.trimboli.name/

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