[176] in tlhIngan-Hol
re: him/her dialogue
dcctdw@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (dcctdw@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Sun Feb 16 19:19:04 1992
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Reply-To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
From: Jeff Lee <jlee%smylex.UUCP@uhasun.hartford.edu>
To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
Date: Sat, 1 Feb 92 00:14:14 EST
> Some problems here. First off, as I've said a hundred times, nuqneH does
> NOT mean the literal question "what do you want?", it is just a greeting.
> However, we will presume that his response here is intentionally playing
> on the 'pun', as it were.
Yes, that's what it was intended to be.
> Second, SoHvaD vIlobqang does not mean I give
> it to you willingly", it means "I obey it willingly".
Oops, that was a typo.
> SoHvaD vInobqang. Third, 'ach vItlhap doesn't really work for "I would take
> it nevertheless". The problem is with 'ach, which really means 'but' and
> is a conjunction, not an adverb.
My fault; I looked up "nevertheless" in the English-to-Klingon section and
found 'ach/'a. I knew 'ach also means "but", but my eyes skipped right
over the "(conj)" bit. Unfortunately, there's no "anyway", "regardless",
or "nevertheless" (in the adjectival sense). Harumph. tlhIngan Hol is
just extensive enough to have great possibilities, yet it always seems that
at least one of the crucial words for one's sentence is not in the
dictionary. :-( (AND the fact that none of the swears are given
translations...)
> I don't think there's any good way to
> get across that I'd-do-it-anyway thing, but I think context makes it clear
> enough.
That is a problem. While there are ways to represent the "aspect" of
something that is in progress, and something that is complete, the
dictionary doesn't give anything for an action that has not yet begun.
Argh. If only Marc Okrand had a net connection... (Hey, if he's got any
kind of personal computer, there's almost certainly uucp software available
for it... *grin*)
Anyway, thanks for the criticism; it was just what I was looking for.
Sorry if my message came through multiple times; sometimes I get messages
through, and other times I get "host/username unknown" bounces.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Jeff Lee Deghmey'a' Deghmey He'So' DIpoQbe'
jlee@smylex.uucp - uhasun!smylex!jlee - jlee%smylex.uucp@uhasun.hartford.edu
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taH pagh taHbe' -- William Shakespeare
