nI'ghma:
I know we can say {'avwI' vInej} for "I search for the guard". Meaning "I'm trying to locate him". But could the same sentence {'avwI' vInej} mean as well "I search the guard"? Meaning, "I search him in order to see if he is armed" ?
No, it wouldn’t. nej is glossed as “look for, seek, search for”. E.g. vInejqa' I am resuming the search. I am searching for him/her again. TKD jagh luHoHmeH jagh lunejtaH They are searching for the enemy in order to kill him. [“In order to kill the enemy, they are searching for the enemy.”] TKD 'avwI' nejDI' narghta'bogh qama' reH 'avwI' Sambej When an escaped prisoner looks for a guard, he always finds one. TKW Qo'noSDaq boqwI'mey nejmeH je leng qeylIS 'ej chaHvaD lut ja' Kahless also went out to search for allies across Kronos, and told them his tale. PB chalDaq DapawmeH wutlhDaq bInejnIS To reach the heavens, you must seek underground PB Daq HopHa’Daq qa’chaj nejlI’ qotar Qempa’QeH je Not far away, Kotar and his Qempa'keh, are in search for their souls. PB Hov leng wej: Spock nejlu' “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” (ASM) nej might well be appropriate when looking/searching for buried treasure or a cloaked Romulan warbird, but to “search someone/something (carefully)” (for hidden weapons, drugs, anti-Empire propaganda, etc.) I would use nuD “examine, look at, inspect”. E.g. wa' qa' nuD veqlargh, latlh qa' nuD veqlargh the Fek'lhr inspects them one by one (PB) I would say (nuH vISammeH) qama’ vInuD I searched the prisoner (for weapons). Something like -- Voragh Ca'Non Master of the Klingons