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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 7/22/2022 7:43 AM,
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:luis.chaparro@web.de">luis.chaparro@web.de</a> wrote:<br>
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<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">qaStaHvIS jarmey vorgh, poH vItlh vIghajpu'be', 'ach tetlhvam QInmey Daj vIlaDtaH. DaH 'op poH vIghajqa' 'ej jIghel vIneH:
1. Is *vItlh* correct here?</pre>
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<p>Yes, although I don't know whether Klingons talk about "having"
time. You might instead say <b>vItlhbe' poH</b><i> the period of
time was not a lot.</i> I'm not saying they don't way <b>poH
ghaj;</b> just that I don't know if they do.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
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<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">2. Aspect again: Are *vIghajpu'be'* and *vIlaDtaH* in this context correct? If I didn't want to present the action of reading as continuous, could I also have used *vIlaDpu'*?</pre>
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<p>I'd use <b>vIghaj</b> instead of <b>vIghajpu'.</b> You're not
saying you performed an act of having and finished it. You're
describing your state over a period of time. That calls for no
perfective.</p>
<p><b>vIlaDtaH</b> is fine here. "Continuous" doesn't necessarily
mean the activity occupied every moment over the period of time. <b>jIlaDtaH</b>
doesn't preclude the possibility of getting up for a snack and
then going back to reading, for instance.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
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<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">3. I want *tetlhvam QInmey Daj* to have a non-restrictive meaning, i.e. all messages are interesting and I've read them all. For a restrictive meaning I would have used a relative clause. Is this how it works in Klingon?</pre>
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<p>Verbs acting like adjectives can probably be interpreted as
restrictive or non-restrictive depending on context. I don't know
if anyone has surveyed all canonical examples of verbs acting like
adjectives to determine if there is a pattern.</p>
<p>This is easy enough to clarify, however. <b>tetlhvam QInmey
vIlaDtaH. Daj.</b><i> I've been reading this list's messages.
They were interesting.</i><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
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<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">4. Can *ghel* take an object, for example: *'op Dochmey vIghel vIneH*?</pre>
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<p>Yes.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
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<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">5. *'op Daq* = *some place*, *'op Daqmey* = *some places*, right?</pre>
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<p>No. <b>'op Daq</b> and <b>'op Daqmey </b>both mean <i>unspecified
number of places.</i> I don't believe we've been told that <b>'op</b>
does the same plural thing that <b>Hoch</b> does, and if it did,
that's not what they would mean anyway. In English, <i>some place</i>
(or <i>someplace</i>) means "a place that is not clearly
identified," while <i>some places</i> means "unspecified number
of places."<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
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<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">6. I always forget to ask about it: How do you actually say in Klingon *do* in the sense of *What do you do at weekend* (asking for plans) or *Today I haven't do anything* (just relaxed)?</pre>
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<p>You pick a more specific verb. <b>ta' </b><i>accomplish</i> is
a common one for your examples: <b>ghInjaj jaj wa' je veb nuq
Data'?</b><i> What will you accomplish next Saturday and Sunday?</i>
<b>DaHjaj pagh vIta'pu'.</b> <i>I haven't accomplished anything
today.</i></p>
<p>But there are other ways to translate <i>do</i> that might be
more appropriate in different senses.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
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<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">7. Just out of curiosity: How would you say in Klingon *Doctor Who*? If we suppose that *Qel* could be something like a title and titles come in Klingon after the name, then we could say something like *'Iv Qel*. But then I realised that's an English thing, I mean, using *who* when asking for someone's name if you only know the title or a part of the whole name. In Spanish we use *who* (*quién*) when asking for people, but we use *what* (*qué*) when asking for the name in those situations (*¿El Doctor qué?*). So I just wanted to know if we have some information about who Klingons do that.
</pre>
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<p>I've often wondered this myself. There are some difficulties
here.</p>
<p>First, is the word <b>Qel</b> really appropriate? The Doctor
isn't a physician, which is what I believe the word <b>Qel</b>
refers to. He has a doctorate, or multiple doctorates. In early
stories it was supposed that he had a PhD in everything, while
later there is some indication that he (barely) received a
doctorate from the Time Lords when he attended the Prydonian
academy. Modern <i>Doctor Who</i> plays on the physician idea of
the word in the sense that they call him a "doctor of war" — that
is, he fixes things when things go bad — but I find this bit of
retroactive continuity silly. So I honestly don't think <b>Qel</b>
is the right word for this.</p>
<p>Also, in the world of <i>Doctor Who,</i> the Doctor's name isn't
"Doctor Who." His name is never spoken; he is simply known by his
title, "Doctor." So there's little point in deciding whether the
word <b>Qel</b> (or whatever substitute you use) acts as a title
or not, because it'll never be attached to anything.</p>
<p>In the real world, the title <i>Doctor Who</i> is actually a
verbless question: "Doctor Who?" It's a fill-in-the-blank that
basically means the same as "What is the Doctor's name?" But the
question <b>'Iv Qel?</b> means <i>Who is the Doctor?</i> Not
quite the same thing.</p>
<p>So, unfortunately, translating <i>Doctor Who</i> is a mess.<br>
</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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