[tlhIngan Hol] mughmeH laH vs mughlaHghach

[Ed Bailey]

On Tue, May 15, 2018 at 6:49 PM, SuStel <sustel at trimboli.name> wrote:

> On 5/15/2018 4:28 PM, Ed Bailey wrote:
>
> On Tue, May 15, 2018 at 4:01 PM, SuStel <sustel at trimboli.name> wrote:
>
>> On 5/15/2018 3:57 PM, Ed Bailey wrote:
>>
>> *mughlaHghach* seems to me to be ambiguously synonymous with both *mughmeH
>> laH* and *mughlu'meH laH*. Without context, I'd expect these two phrases
>> to mean respectively "ability to translate" and "ability to be translated."
>>
>> *mughlu'meH laH* means *ability in order for someone indefinite to
>> translate,* not *ability to be translated.*
>>
> My point was not whether passive voice was suitable for translating this
> term, which I'd say it is in this case, but how the term would be applied. *mughlu'meH
> laH* clearly does not apply to the translator. Therefore, I would expect
> it to be used in talking about a text.
>
> *mughlu'meH laH *clearly DOES apply to the translator. The only
> difference between *mughmeH laH* and *mughlu'meH laH* is that in the
> latter the subject doing the translating is explicitly indefinite. In the
> former there is NO subject. Purpose clauses are the only verbal clauses
> that allow you to ignore verb conjugation.
>
If you are talking about a particular translator's ability, would it make
sense to talk about his *mughlu'meH laH*? It seems to me that *-lu'* would
be out of place if the speaker and listener have a particular translator in
mind.

But if you were talking whether a particular text were translatable (i.e.,
whether there was anyone who could translate it), wouldn't that be a
logical context for talking about *mughlu'meH laH*? For instance, *ghItlhvam
mughlu'meH laH chavlu'pu'be'* as a way of saying "No one has figured out
how to translate this manuscript."

So would you agree that *mughmeH laH* and *mughlu'meH laH* are not
synonymous, and that *mughlaHghach* is ambiguously synonymous with both of
them?

~mIp'av
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