On 16 August 2017 at 08:46, Philip Newton <philip.newton@gmail.com> wrote:
Someone recently used {yIvoq 'ach lojmItmey yISam}.
At first, I corrected the writer with {tISam} but was then told it was a quote from TKW:
yIvoq 'ach lojmItmey yISam Trust, but locate the doors. TKW (sic for {tISam})
Has this usage ever been explained?
Was it a typographical error by the booksetter? A thinko by the author? Is it a survivor of older Klingon grammar? Or an innovation by some Klingons like {puqpu' tu'lu'}, similar to "Who did you see?" in English?
No, but considering its content, context (next to {yIvoq 'ach yI'ol}), and the explanatory paragraph ("one must always be careful"), I'm inclined to think it's a deliberate joke. Note that, earlier, Okrand had translated "trust your instincts" as {Duj tIvoqtaH} in TKD, and on p. 26 of TKW the phrase {DujlIj yIvoq} is given, with the explanation that {Duj} "instincts" can be grammatically singular or plural. I think someone tried to "correct" him about that prefix, and TKW is the response. (He uses {tI-} correctly elsewhere in the book.)
Should the prefix be corrected to {tISam} when quoting the proverb? Or should the proverb be quoted as written down?
DujlIj yIvoq. -- De'vID