[tlhIngan Hol] vaj and meqvammo' difference

SuStel sustel at trimboli.name
Tue Oct 6 06:59:09 PDT 2020


On 10/6/2020 9:38 AM, mayqel qunen'oS wrote:
> {vaj} {meqvammo'} bopbogh vay''e' vIyajbe'.
>
> vaj = so, then, thus, in that case
> meqvammo' = because of this reason
>
> jIjatlh vIneH: "I was hungry so I ordered a pizza".
>
> jIghungpu'; vaj pItSa' vIvunpu'
> jIghungpu'; meqvammo' pItSa' vIvunpu'.
>
> chay' pIm cha' mu'tlheghvam ?

Before I get to the main point, your use of perfective here is 
incorrect. *jIghungpu'* describes the completed state of you being 
hungry. If your hunger were completed, you would not need to order 
pizza, because you would no longer be hungry.

*jIghung; vaj pItSa' chab vIvunpu'.
jIghungmo', pItSa' chab vIvunpu'.*

These are the "standard" ways to say this. The use of *vaj* came with 
the first edition of /The Klingon Dictionary;/ the *-mo'* verb suffix 
came with the second edition. (I've sometimes wondered if there were no 
*-mo'* in the first edition because you could do the same thing with *vaj.*)

*meqvammo'* does mean what you say it means, but it's not some formulaic 
way that Klingons have to show cause and effect. I think it's based on 
something you probably say habitually in Greek or English.

The two sentences *vaj pItSa' chab vIvunpu'* and *meqvammo' chab 
vIvunpu'* differ only in that one employs an adverbial to show a logical 
link and one employs a subordinate clause.

-- 
SuStel
http://trimboli.name

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