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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 3/29/2018 8:25 AM, Daniel Dadap
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:4A070CD4-C600-41ED-BB9E-B69510A94468@dadap.net">
<pre wrap="">Can {ja'} be used to mean “read aloud”, e.g., to describe the functionality of TTS software, or is it more proper to use {jatlh} for this? In other words, are the following two options equally acceptable, or is either one considered more correct than the other, to express something like “say it to me” to a computer?
a) {HIja'}
b) {jIHvaD yIjatlh}</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
<p>First, a side-note: <b>HIjatlh</b> is allowed by use of the
prefix trick.</p>
<p>To me, a strict reading of the entries for <b>jatlh</b> and <b>ja'</b>
suggest that <b>jatlh</b> is about the act of making speech,
while <b>ja'</b> is about the act of imparting information.</p>
<p>In <i>Star Trek III,</i> we get <b>qaja'pu' jonta' neH</b><i> I
told you engines only.</i> The emphasis here is clearly on the
information imparted, rather than the saying of it.</p>
<p>On the other hand, in the same movie Kruge says, in English, "Say
the wrong thing, Torg..." And we just <i>happen</i> to get the
phrase <b>bIjatlhHa'chugh</b><i> If you misspeak</i> in <i>The
Klingon Dictionary.</i> This is, of course, not a coincidence,
because Okrand translated every line by a Klingon whether it ended
up being said in Klingon or not. Here, the emphasis is purely on
whether Torg says something Kruge doesn't want to hear, not on
whatever information he has to impart.</p>
<p>This is not to say that you can't impart information when you <b>jatlh</b>
or be speaking when you <b>ja'.</b> It's just a matter of focus.<br>
</p>
<p>I feel fairly confident in this distinction, but it remains only
my opinion.<br>
</p>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:4A070CD4-C600-41ED-BB9E-B69510A94468@dadap.net">
<pre wrap="">I am hoping that I can call the TTS app and the extension it exposes {HIja'}, as a pun meaning “tell me” and also “yes”, but I don’t know whether the semantics of {ja'} allow for this, or whether {HIja'} can only mean “tell me” in the sense of “report a piece of information to me” and not “say something to me”.</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
<p>I don't think <b>ja'</b> only means to provide with information;
it means to talk or communicate in a way that provides
information. Consider the word <b>ja'chuq</b> <i>discuss,
confer.</i> It's not that the subjects are just shooting off
data at each other; it means they're having a conversation.</p>
<p>I don't know whether a pun would be good in this application; I
think it would just be confusing, as most people seeing <b>HIja'</b>
will associate it with <i>yes</i> far sooner than they will with
<i>tell me!</i> I'm also not sure I see the value of the pun—why
would it be funny to interpret it as <i>yes</i> in that
particular context?<br>
</p>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:4A070CD4-C600-41ED-BB9E-B69510A94468@dadap.net">
<pre wrap="">On a somewhat related note, does anybody know whether the fact that {HIja'} means “tell me” in addition to meaning “yes” is intentional?</pre>
</blockquote>
<p>I'm sure it wasn't intentional.</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
SuStel
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://trimboli.name">http://trimboli.name</a></pre>
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