[85719] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: Spanish joke
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (David Trimboli)
Wed Jun 10 15:47:24 2009
Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:43:53 -0400
From: David Trimboli <david@trimboli.name>
In-reply-to: <C305E6BD33E2654DAE1F8F403247B6A6A4BA818968@EVS02.ad.uchicago.edu>
To: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
Errors-to: tlhingan-hol-bounce@kli.org
Reply-to: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
Steven Boozer wrote:
> - Waiter, I've found a hair in my soup and it's not mine. - Give it
> to me. We'll keep it in case someone comes to claim it.
>
> - jabwI', chatlhDaq jIb vItu'pu' 'ej jIbwIj 'oHbe'. - jIb HInob;
> wIpol. poQmeH chaq jaHchugh vay'.
>
> The waiter's response is giving me pause. The last bit "we'll keep
> it in case someone comes to claim it" is a problem. Can I connect
> the three verbs in one Klingon sentence? Also, I'm not sure of the
> placement of {chaq}:
>
> poQmeH chaq jaHchugh vay'. "Perhaps someone will come (in order) to
> demand it."
>
> chaq poQmeH jaHchugh vay'. "Perhaps (in order) to demand it, someone
> will come."
>
> Which feels more natural in Klingon? Logically, {chaq} could refer
> to either verb - "perhaps someone will come" vs. "perhaps someone
> will demand it" - or even both verbs.
Perhaps the problem you're having is that there is no main verb in the
sentence.
I'd say it more directly this way:
vItlhap. poQchugh vay', wInob.
I don't see that "coming" is an essential part of the sentence.
--
SuStel
Stardate 9442.3
