[tlhIngan Hol] When better is missing go with preferable

[mayqel qunenoS]

the million dollar question (as americans say) now arises:

what is the exact opposite of {qaq} ? is there one in klingon ?

qunnoq
ghogh HablI'wIjvo' vIngeHta'

On 18 Aug 2016 9:21 p.m., "Steven Boozer" <sboozer at uchicago.edu> wrote:

qunnoq :
> Thousand times I came across the need to express in klingon the word
> "better". And a thousand times I came up with nothing, because in
> klingon we can't form comparatives in the way good-better-best.
> Until just a minute ago, a light bulb lit inside my head! And I[]
> realized that in the place of the absent "better", we can use {qaq}
> instead. Problem solved !

FYI we have two sentences with {qaq} - ironically in a law'/puS comparative:

  tlhutlhmeH HIq ngeb qaq law' bIQ qaq puS
  Drinking fake ale is better than drinking water. TKW

  QamvIS Hegh qaq law' torvIS yIn qaq puS
  Better to die on our feet than live on our knees. ST6
    ("Dying while standing is preferable to living while kneeling" TKW)

Okrand also discussed [qaq} a bit:

(st.klingon):  ... the answer to the question {jarlIj qaq nuq?} ("What is
your preferable month?") would presumably be a definition of your favorite
month ... What you really mean to ask is something like "Of all the months,
which one do you prefer?" ... You use {qaq}, "be preferable", adjectivally
({jarlIj qaq} is "your preferable month"). I think what you mean is better
expressed by using the verb {maS} "prefer" with you as the subject...



--
Voragh
tlhIngan ghantoH pIn'a'
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons



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