[tlhIngan Hol] how would you understand {'eladya' DaqDaq} ?

[SuStel]

On 11/13/2019 10:41 AM, mayqel qunen'oS wrote:
> Suppose I write:
>
> {'elaDya' SepDaq vIghro'mey tIQ tu'lu'}.
>
> This would mean: "there are ancient cats at the region of greece".
>
> Now, suppose I write:
>
> {'elaDya' DaqDaq vIghro'mey tIQ tu'lu'}
>
> The way I understand it, this would mean "there are ancient cats at
> the site/location of greece". And the only difference I "feel", is
> that perhaps this sentence focuses more on the "location".
>
> However, since I'm not a native english speaker, I wonder:
>
> Meaning-wise, what's the actual difference between this and the first sentence ?
>
> Do you, as native american speakers, "feel" any difference between
> these two sentences ?

You're too focused on how the translation "feels" rather than what the 
Klingon actually says. Sometimes a single Klingon syntactic structure 
will "feel" differently with different semantics.

For example, you could say *nuH pegh DaSov'a'*/Do you know the secret of 
the weapon? Do you know the weapon's secret?/ Both English versions a 
perfectly fine. But if you say *'elaDya' Sep DaSov'a',* it sounds fine 
as /Do you know the country of Greece?/ but it doesn't work at all as 
/Do you know Greece's country?/ Identical syntax in Klingon doesn't mean 
entirely identical syntax in English translations.

In this case there is a difference because it is common to refer to a 
region by name *('elaDya' Sep)* but not any old site by name *('elaDya' 
Daq).* The first one will be interpreted as the region named Greece; the 
second one will be interpreted as a site in Greece (a /Greece site/), 
not as the place named Greece. *'elaDya'* is a *Sep,* not a *Daq,* even 
if it is technically a *Daq* in a strict semantic sense.

-- 
SuStel
http://trimboli.name

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