[tlhIngan Hol] meaning of the verbs {tob} and {Daj}

[Steven Boozer]

My hunch is that {tob} could mean "test positive" as in "The patient tested positive for the COVID-19 virus" though I'm not sure of the exact phrasing.  Something like {SID luchov Qelpu'; qo'vID wa'maH Hut javtIm toblu'} perhaps?

In any event, here's how Okrand -- as well as Lieven and Qov in DISCOVERY - have used the various "testing" verbs:

tob  	test conclusively,  prove (v) 

(KGT 69):  One accepts a challenge ... in order to prove one's honor ({quv tob} [literally, "test honor conclusively"])" in a duel. 

logh veQDaq bachchugh, yoH 'e' toblaHbe' SuvwI' 
Shooting space garbage is no test of a warrior's mettle. (ST5 notes)

SuvwI' qa' patlh veb chavlaHmeH tlhIngan lo'chu' chaH.  toDujDaj toblu'.
[They] use the devices [painstiks] to inflict pain in a manner which will allow the Klingon to attain a higher state of spirituality as a warrior, proving his mettle. S32

Daj  	test inconclusively (v)

vaj toDuj Daj ngeHbej DI vI' 
Shooting space garbage is no test of a warrior's mettle. ST5/TKW ("Sharpshooting of the cosmos' litter inconclusively tests a warrior's courage.") [This is a notorious back-fit of a dittography in the ST5 shooting script!]

chov  	assess,  evaluate,  test (v)

luchovmeH 'oy'naQmey lo' 
[Warriors] who test him with painstiks. S9

tlhIngan wo' yuQmey chovlu'chugh Qo'noS potlh law' Hoch potlh puS. 
The principal planet of the Klingon Empire, Qo'noS... S27

waH  	taste, try out (e.g. food), test, use experimentally (v) 

(KGT 86):  The verb {mum} (taste) means "sense flavors".  To say {Soj vImum} ("I taste the food") is to say "I perceive a flavor or flavors", not "I try out the food to see if it is prepared properly".  This latter meaning of taste is expressed by the verb {waH}, which can also be used more generally to mean "try out, test, use experimentally".

qagh vIwaH
I taste the gagh.
("I try out the gagh [to see how it tastes]") (st.klingon)

'ol  	verify; check if/make sure that (something) is true (v) (qepHom 2017 < DSC)

yIvoq 'ach yI'ol
Trust, but verify. TKW

narghpu'pa' Human cham HoSghaj ghaj DISqa'vI'rIy 'e' 'ol ghaH. 
Before her escape, the human confirmed that Discovery possesses a powerful  technology. (DSC/Qov "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum")

woq  	confirm, substantiate, corroborate (v) (qepHom 2017 < DSC)

De'wI', yIwoq! 
Computer, confirm! (DSC/LLL "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad")

ghot woqlu'. 
Identity confirmed. (DSC/LLL "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad")

(Lieven, 11/17/2017):  Okrand explained the difference saying that {'ol} is used to check a fact, but {woq} is to confirm it.

--
Voragh

----------------------------------------Original Message----------------------------------------
From: SuStel

On 6/25/2021 8:18 AM, mayqel qunen'oS wrote:

	I think I just realized that years now, I understand wrongly the verbs {tob} and {Daj}. But before I start, just to be on the same page (as americans say), here are the definitions:

	tob (v) test conclusively, prove
	Daj (v) test inconclusively

	Suppose I write the following sentences:

	nger vItobpu'
	nger vIDajpu'

	Years now, I thought that the {nger vItobpu'} means "I proved that the theory is correct", and that the {nger vIDajpu'} means "I proved that the theory is wrong".

	But now I realized that the meanings are rather the folllowing:

	nger vItobpu'
	I tested conclusively the theory

	(I say that I tested it thoroughly, but without this meaning that the theory is necessarily correct; after the "testing" finished, perhaps the conclusion was that the theory was perfectly wrong)

	nger vIDajpu'
	I tested inconclusively the theory

	(I just say that I didn't thoroughly test the theory; it may be a valid theory, or it may be a wrong one, but the "testing" wasn't thorough/effective enough to come to definite conclusion)

	Is my understanding correct?

Mostly. I think the word prove in the gloss suggests that tob implies not only that the test was conclusive, but that it was also positive. If you tob something, you conclusively show that it is correct. To test something conclusively and show that it is wrong, use tobHa' disprove.

nger vItobpu' 		I tested the theory and showed conclusively that it is correct.
nger vItobHa'pu' 	I tested the theory and showed conclusively that it is incorrect.
nger vIDajpu' 		I tested the theory but was unable to conclusively show its validity.

--
SuStel
http://trimboli.name