[tlhIngan Hol] Expressing "must"
SuStel
sustel at trimboli.name
Tue Nov 15 07:05:49 PST 2016
On 11/14/2016 5:40 PM, Lieven wrote:
> I only see that canon examples sometimes use "must" and sometimes
> "need". Maybe it's me again proving my lack of english knowledge that
> you see more than I do? Or is this up to personal interpretation?
Here's <http://www.engvid.com/modals-of-necessity/> an excellent video
explanation of the difference between /need/ and /have to/ (and /have
to/ equals /must/). It says that /have to/ focuses on the consequences
of not doing something, while /need/ focuses on the benefit of doing
something. If you /have to/ do something, there is some agency requiring
it of you; this is not the case with /need./
However, the reality isn't all that clear-cut. People interchange /need,
must,/ and /have to/ all the time.
For instance, while *nIteb SuvnIS DevwI'//*is translated with /must/
instead of /need,/ there is no sense in this sentence that any agency is
imposing lone-fighting on a leader; rather, it's saying that a leader
has a personal necessity of lone-fighting. So don't count too much on
these terms having distinct meanings when used in colloquial English.
Now, if someone wants to pull up a few instances of *-nIS* being used
where an agency is imposing an action and consequences of failure on the
subject, and not just instances where the English translation uses
/must,/ I'll be happy to revise my opinion.
--
SuStel
http://trimboli.name
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.kli.org/pipermail/tlhingan-hol-kli.org/attachments/20161115/a8b577f8/attachment-0017.htm>
More information about the tlhIngan-Hol
mailing list