[tlhIngan Hol] Expressing "must"

mayqel qunenoS mihkoun at gmail.com
Mon Nov 14 12:40:51 PST 2016


Something which during the 14 months I've been on this list, only once
someone has mentioned is this:

the {-nIS}, expresses "need"; it isn't equivalent with the english "must".

if I write {jIQongnIS}, then this means "I need to sleep". I need to sleep
because I am exhausted. Similarly {jISopnIS}, is "I need to eat"; I *need*
to eat, because I'm starving.

But what if I want to express "must" ? The must doesn't necessarily express
"need". Mainly it expresses "obligation". Mainly it expresses "necessity".

So, I thought that perhaps in order to express the "must", we could use the
{'ut}.

Example: "because you're a bad cat, I must tickle you" {vIghro' mIgh SoHmo'
vIqotlh. 'ut.}

However there is a problem. In the above example, while the english
sentence describes a necessity to perform an action in the future (near or
not so near), the klingon one doesn't. It says "because you're a bad cat I
tickle you. it is necessary".

So, in order to get the job done, we only need to place a {tugh} in the
beginning, or any other appropriate time stamp and we're good to go.

Perhaps by the appropriate context, and a well placed {'ut}, or maybe even
{potlh}, or maybe even {net pIHbej}, or even better {net poQbej}, or even
way better {jIHvaD net poQbej} we can express the "must", without falling
into the trap of using {-nIS}.

'ach chaq jImuj. jIQongnISmo' jIQubchu'laHbe'. Do', muloStaH QongDaqwIj
tun..

qunnoH
ghoghwIj HablI'vo' vIngeHta'
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