[87966] in tlhIngan-Hol
RE: Already
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Terrence Donnelly)
Fri Apr 30 12:32:37 2010
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2010 09:29:48 -0700 (PDT)
From: Terrence Donnelly <terrence.donnelly@sbcglobal.net>
To: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
In-Reply-To: <C305E6BD33E2654DAE1F8F403247B6A60139BD09A46C@EVS02.ad.uchicago.edu>
Errors-to: tlhingan-hol-bounce@kli.org
Reply-to: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
I have always considered the suffixes {-ta'/-pu'} to carry the idea of "already", as in Okrand's example, since they refer to actions completed in relation to the time of one's conversation.
-- ter'eS
--- On Fri, 4/30/10, Steven Boozer <sboozer@uchicago.edu> wrote:
> From: Steven Boozer <sboozer@uchicago.edu>
> Subject: RE: Already
> To: "'tlhingan-hol@kli.org'" <tlhingan-hol@kli.org>
> Date: Friday, April 30, 2010, 9:45 AM
> buswI':
> >> I recently tried to express that I did not want to
> drink coffee since
> >> I'd already had coffee, but found no klingon word
> for "already". How
> >> ever, there is {wej} for "not yet", so I thought
> that {wejHa'} might
> >> work. But of course, I can't put a {-Ha'} after an
> adverb just as if
> >> it had been a verb...
> >>
> >> OTOH, there are some adverbs that are similarly
> formed, such as
> >> {DoHa'} (unfortunately) and the pair {pIj}
> (frequently) and {pIjHa'}
> >> (infrequently).
>
> HQ 4.4: Whether this {-Ha'} can be added to all
> adverbials is not clear. The notes taken while working with
> Maltz indicate that he balked at {vajHa'} ("not thus?") but
> accepted {Do'Ha'} "unfortunately". Information on other
> adverbials has not yet been uncovered, though it is probably
> in the notes somewhere.
>
>
> >> So would {wejHa'} (or {wejbe'}) count as an
> acceptable neologism? It's
>
> It might, but you can't be sure how it would be
> understood. In my notes I discovered that someone has
> already (!) suggested *{wejHa'} for "yet, ever".
> E.g.:
>
> ? wejHa' qa'vIn Datlhuth'a'
> Do you ever drink coffee?
>
> ? wejHa' qa'vIn Datlhuthpu''a'
> Have you ever drank coffee?
>
>
> >> the kind of construction that might occur as
> slang, for instance.
> >>
> >> {wejHa' qavIn vItlhutlhpu'} "I've already
> had coffee"
> >>
> >> Or is it a deeper reason to the lack of the word?
> It is a bit
> >> superflous, perhaps {qavIn vitlhutlhpu'} would be
> more direct, and
> >> thus more Klingon? Or, for that matter, {qen qavIn
> vItlhutlhpu'} (I
> >> have recently had coffee) would be more precise?
>
> We have one example of Okrand translating "already":
>
> bIHeghvIpchugh bIHeghpu'.
> If you are afraid to die, you have already died.
> (TKW)
>
> Since the lack of a word for "already" didn't bother
> Okrand, I would just say:
>
> qa'vIn vItlhutlhpu'. latlh vIneHbe'.
> I have [already] drank coffee. I don't want
> another (one).
>
>
> On the other hand, I do. Time for my coffee break!
>
>
> --
> Voragh
>
> Canon Master of the Klingons
>
>
>
>
