[tlhIngan Hol] Bullets in Klingon

[nIqolay Q]

On Thu, Feb 2, 2023 at 11:15 AM SuStel via tlhIngan-Hol <
tlhingan-hol at lists.kli.org> wrote:

> On 2/2/2023 11:02 AM, Will Martin via tlhIngan-Hol wrote:
>
> I’m sure our canon experts will be happy to clarify whether or not we’ve
> been given license to use Relative Clauses for parenthetical statements
> about the Head Noun.
>
> You're describing the difference between restrictive and nonrestrictive
> clauses. I believe we still haven't seen nonrestrictive relative clauses.
>
> To say *Our leader, who is fond of knitting, commands us to attend the
> meeting,* you apparently can't say *qepDaq majeS 'e' ra' nIq 'e' tIvbogh
> DevI'ma'.*
>
Is this confirmed anywhere? My first feeling would be that context would
dictate whether the leader's fondness for knitting is an important
distinction or merely a parenthetical. I found a few quotes from the
paq'batlh which seem like nonrestrictive relative clauses, assuming I've
interpreted that term correctly. (One common thing from the examples is
that the English translations usually don't use a relative clause of either
kind, which might make it harder to determine what the intent of the
sentence was.)

All quotes are from the paq'batlh, 2nd edition:

> *SaqSub’e’ muSHa’bogh*
> *    pawmeH leng qeylIS*
> *    HuDmey Sal ghIq ghIr*
> *And Kahless traveled to*
> *    His beloved Saq’sub,*
> *    Over the mountains,*
>
paq'raD, canto 7, lines 1-3, pages 120-121

*pIraqSIS maS bIngDaq*
> *    pIgh rur SaqSub chIm*
> *    choSlu’pu’bogh*
> *The Saq’sub lay*
> *    Empty and desolate,*
> *    Under the Praxis moon.*
>
paq'raD, canto 8, 1-3, pages 122-123
Contextually, we know there's only one Saq'sub (or at least there's only
one that's in any way relevant to the story), so *SaqSub’e’ muSHa’bogh*
("Saq'sub which Kahless loved") and *SaqSub chIm **choSlu’pu’bogh* ("empty
Saq'sub which had been deserted") must be parentheticals.


>
> *vaj matlhutlhjaj    ghe’torDaq ghaHtaHbogh vavwI’’e’ wIquvmoHjaj
> Heghbogh loDnI’wI’ wIquvmoHjaj!*
>
>
> *Let us drink then   To my father in Gre’thor   And the brother I once
> had.*
>
paq'yav, canto 10, lines 13-15, pages 88-89
This quote has the same situation. Contextually, Kahless only has the one
father and the one brother, so these sentences aren't restricting the
meaning any further.


>
> *SIqral bIQtIqDaq    joqtaHbogh molor tIqDu’ qem qeylIS    bIQ DoqDaq
> tlhabmoH*
>
>
> *Kahless takes Molor’s hearts,    Still beating, to the river Skral,    He
> sets them free in the crimson water.*
>
paq'raD, canto 23, lines 46-48, pages 166-167
Molor doesn't have any non-beating hearts to contrast with. The English
translation, "still beating", is set off with commas, further suggesting
that it's intended to be a parenthetical comment.

Looking at the Skybox cards, I found another example (which is a pretty
clear example, and makes me wish I'd found it before I started writing this
post):

>
>
> *juHqo'Daq vaS'a' tu'lu'. ngoch luchermeH 'ej wo' San luwuqmeH pa'ghom
> tlhIngan yejquv DevwI'pu'. DaH che' ghawran. yejquv DevwI' mojghawran 'e'
> wuqta' cho' 'oDwI' Dapu'bogh janluq pIqarD HoD.*
>
>
>
>
> *On the Homeworld, there is a great hall where the leaders of the
> KlingonHigh Council meet to determine policy and decide upon the fate of
> theEmpire. Gowron™ currently presides, named leader of the High Councilby
> Captain Jean-Luc Picard,™ who was acting as Arbiter ofSuccession.*
>
http://klingonska.org/canon/1996-sbx-s25.txt
The "who was acting as Arbiter of Succession" clause in the final sentence
is set off with a comma in the translation, suggesting it's intended as a
parenthetical. Semantically, it can't be there to distinguish from some
other Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
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