On 2/18/2017 8:19 AM, David Holt wrote:
On the other hand, I'm not sure it is so clear that {tlhagh} is the object of {'Im}. KGT says, "the general word for "boil" is {pub}, but the verb used specifically to refer to the boiling of fat is {'Im} ["render"]." However, I believe the only example we have of {pub} uses the thing being boiled as the subject ({pubtaHbogh ghargh HIq} from CK). Does {'Im} work like {pub} and the thing that is rendering should be the subject?
No, it's not completely clear whether*'Im tlhagh* or *tlhagh 'Im*, or both, are correct. (Even with an example of the subject of *pub* being the thing boiled, it's not certain that you can't *pub* something. Sometimes Klingon verbs go both ways. We actually have another example: *tujpa' qul pub SuvwI' 'Iw* /a warrior's blood boils before the fire is hot./) I don't think the contrast of *pub* and *'Im* in the text necessarily implies similarity in their transitivities. When we lack an example, we have to go by the English translation. *'Im* is /render, boil fat./ Now, it could just be saying that *'Im* is the type of boiling that happens to fat, but the English translation does choose to use /fat/ as its object. This puts me in favor of *tlhagh 'Im.* But if I saw *'Im tlhagh,* I'd understand where you're coming from. If I saw *'ImwI'* I'd be less comfortable, because I'd be imagining the cook doing the rendering, rather than the fat being rendered. Let me know when you figure out which way to interpret *tlhe'*... -- SuStel http://trimboli.name