[tlhIngan Hol] does -jaj have the "may your request be granted" meaning ?

[Will Martin]

Everyone has been using the word “wish” to describe the verb suffix {-jaj}. My understanding has been that it’s more like a blessing than a wish. It’s one thing to wish someone success in battle. That’s subtly different from addressing the person who is about to go to battle and offer the blessing, “May you be successful in battle!”

I can wish I had a sandwich.

That’s not what I’d use {-jaj} for, though. “May it be that I get a sandwich!” Really?

Yes, you wish for the thing that you offer as a blessing, but offering a blessing is really different from generic wishing in an important way. It’s more like, “There’s an entity for which I want something, and I’d like to muster whatever small influence I have over Fate to improve the odds that this entity gets what I’m wishing for it."

charghwI’ vaghnerya’ngan

rInpa’ bomnIS be’’a’ pI’.

> On Sep 30, 2020, at 12:34 PM, Lieven L. Litaer <levinius at gmx.de> wrote:
> 
> Before SuStel explained what your sentence really means, I only saw it
> as a wish, because that's what {-jaj} implies.
> 
> So if it it just means that, you may use it:
> 
> Kid: "I'm going to ask mom for a cookie."
> {jIHvaD chab nob SoS 'e' vItlhobrup}
> 
> Sister: "May your wish be granted".
> {chab DaneHbogh Dunobjaj.}
> = "Good luck! I hope it works."
> 
> Any other usage than a wish is not suited for {-jaj}.
> 
> 
> --
> Lieven L. Litaer
> aka the "Klingon Teacher from Germany"
> http://www.tlhInganHol.com
> http://klingon.wiki/En/Hamletmachine
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