[tlhIngan Hol] {neH} adverb with {pong} verb

[SuStel]

On 5/2/2021 7:17 AM, mayqel qunen'oS wrote:
> Ca'Non sentence:
>
> roD 'oHvaD juHqo' ponglu' neH
> [Qo'noS] is usually referred to as simply "the homeworld"
>
> I can't understand how this Ca'Non klingon sentence produces the 
> english one; if I hadn't read the translation, I'd understand it as 
> "it is merely called homeworld". Which in turn wouldn't make sense not 
> even in english.

Marc's translation is fine. Your problem stems from your non-native 
understanding of English and your focus on a single way to translate 
from Klingon.


> What does "merely called" actually mean? Does it mean that something 
> is "merely called" as opposed to something additional being happening 
> to it? If I say "the officer merely hit the prisoner", then this means 
> that he hit the prisoner without doing anything else to him; it means 
> "he just hit the prisoner; he didn't for example execute him too".
>
> So, what the jay' does "something is merely called" actually mean? 
> Does it mean "we just call it something, without let's say having sex 
> with it too"?

If something is /merely called/ something else, it means it is called 
that something else, but that something else is somehow simpler or less 
important than its other name.

/Referred to as simply/ means exactly the same thing as /merely called./

/His name was Benjamin Buford Blue, but Forrest merely called him 
Bubba./ This tells you that /Bubba/ is a nickname with less stature than 
the full name.

So when we have /It is usually referred to as "the homeworld," /it's 
saying that most people don't bother to say the correct name /Kronos/ 
very much and instead use this informal name.


> This Ca'Non sentence seems like 'oqranD wanted to use the adverb 
> "simply", which of course is non-existent in the so-called warrior 
> language,

I doubt that Okrand wrote the English text. He just translated it.


> and for lack of a better alternative, shoved up a {neH} after the 
> {ponglu'}, while at the same time giving a different english 
> translation than klingon sentence actually implies.

No, the *neH* translates the /simply/ correctly.


> I could understand it if he wrote:
>
> roD 'oHvaD juHqo' neH ponglu'
> [Qo'noS] is usually referred to as only "the homeworld"
>
> Meaning "Kronos is usually called only by the name of homeworld"; i.e. 
> usually no other name is being used for Kronos, except "the homeworld".

That's not what they're trying to express. They're saying that Klingons 
usually use a less formal name than the planet's actual name.

-- 
SuStel
http://trimboli.name

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