On 2/23/2021 8:06 AM, mayqel qunen'oS wrote:
Suppose I write: SuvwI'na' SoH net jalchugh, vaj bISuvqang.
There are two options with regards to this sentence.
Option A: The literal meaning of this sentence is "if you were a true warrior, you'd be willing to fight".
Option B: The literal meaning of the sentence is "if one imagines that you're a true warrior, you're willing to fight".
In option A, the {net jalchugh} gives to the sentence the literal meaning of irrealis.
In option B, there's no irrealis as far as the literal translation of the sentence is concerned, but we read and understand it as irrealis because maltz said so.
So what's the correct option?
You are thinking in English, not Klingon. *net jalchugh* means exactly what it says /and/ introduces an irrealis. It isn't interpreted as two separate things. The fact that the construction can be translated in English one way with an irrealis and another way without one is irrelevant to how the Klingon works. -- SuStel http://trimboli.name