[tlhIngan Hol] Five Little Bunnies by Dan Yaccarino (Children's Book)

Steven Boozer sboozer at uchicago.edu
Wed Jul 6 06:35:45 PDT 2016


mayqel qunenoS :
> > Can we use the {'op} on its own i.e. without a noun following it ?
>
De'vID:
> > HIja'.
> 
> thanks for telling me ! I must have gotten the idea that the {'op} is only
> to be used with a noun following it, since most of the times we say things
> like {'op ret}, {'op pIq} etc..

{'op} "some" and {HochHom} "most" seem to work like {Hoch} "everyone, everything, all".  They are nouns and presumably can be used by themselves:  E.g.

  may' ngeb tIv Hoch 
  Everyone enjoys a mock battle. CK

  Hoch vor Dargh wIb 
  Sour tea cures everything. CK

  Hoch DaSopbe'chugh batlh bIHeghbe' 
  Eat everything or you will die without honor. PK 

De'vID:
> > I would suggest {pem} instead of {jaj}, unless you really meant that
> > they played for all day and all night.
> 
> oh yes, this is better ! I had never actually realized that this
> distinction actually existed in klingon. I had the impression that {jaj}
> meant day and night as well.

(KGT 121):  The word used for days, {pemmey}, is the plural form of {pem} (day, daytime), a word referring to the part of the day when it is light out (as opposed to ram [night]). Another word, {jaj} (day) refers to the full period from dawn to dawn.

(KGT 206-7):  Thus, Federation Standard uses the single word "day" to refer to both a period of 24 Earth hours (generally reckoned from midnight to midnight) and to that part of the 24-hour period which is light (day as opposed to night). In Klingon, there are two distinct terms: {jaj} is the period from dawn to dawn; {pem} is that part of a {jaj} which is light (as opposed to {ram} [night]). Although Federation Standard also makes use of the locutions "daytime" and "nighttime", when a speaker of Federation Standard is counting periods of daytime, only "day" is used. Thus, "three days", with no further context, is ambiguous, for it can refer to three 24-hour periods (as in "They wandered for three days") or three periods of daylight (as in "They wandered for three days and three nights"). In Klingon, {wej jajmey} means only three stretches from dawn to dawn; {wej pemmey} means three periods of daylight (as opposed to {wej rammey} [three nights]).


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





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