[tlhIngan Hol] teH vs {-na'}

[Will Martin]

Since the local authority has determined that my earlier comments on {qamuSHa’} are invalid, I’ll reverse direction and suggest why “I unhate you,” can mean “I love you,” and do so better than your gut suggests.

Okrand has provided the explanation of what {-Ha’} means in a kind of “either/or” description of either meaning that an action has been reversed, or it is wrongly done. Examples of each might be {chu’Ha’} for disengaging something that has already been engaged, or {yajHa’} for misunderstanding, as opposed to merely not understanding.

I suggest that the consistent core meaning that includes both of these either/or conditions and more, which is harder to describe, is that {-Ha’} is fundamentally more negative than {-be’}. There is a continuity between the extremes of “engaging" and “disengaging", and “not engaging” is between these extremes. There is a continuity between “understanding” and “misunderstanding”, and “not understanding” is between these extremes.

And so, there is a continuity between “hate” and “love” and “not hate” is between these extremes, just as there is a continuity between “disagree” and “agree”, and “not agree” is between these extremes. You can “not agree” simply because you don’t care about the topic enough to agree or disagree. If you disagree, then you care. You are negatively invested in the topic that the person you disagree with presents as true.

In every case, if {-be’} is not negative enough to cover your meaning, {-Ha’} should be able to cover your need for an antonym.

charghwI’ vaghnerya’ngan

rInpa’ bomnIS be’’a’ pI’.




> On Aug 14, 2019, at 9:43 AM, mayqel qunen'oS <mihkoun at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> SuStel:
> > Say I agree in Klingon. Give it punch.
> 
> I can't. Indeed, saying "I don't disagree" lacks the punch of "I agree". Or the "I reject" word too..
> 
> And an even better example is the {qamuSHa'} which *feels* light years away from "I love you".
> 
> But since it's a constructed language, I guess we'll have to make due with the limited choices we have..
> 
> ~ cjcjcj
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