Am 18.02.2019 um 16:22 schrieb SuStel:
There's a difference between "I ask why I was chosen." and "I ask: why was I chosen?"
Not in Klingon. Much has been made of "direct quotations" by certain people, but Klingon happily uses so-called direct quotations where English will use so-called "indirect quotations."
What I mean is when I write "I tell you why I ate the pie" it means that I am going to tell you the reason for eating the pie. If I write "I tell you 'why I ate the pie'" it only means that I'm going to speak the words "why I ate the pie".
What you're describing is in English performed with a relative pronoun. That's not what happens when you say jIjatlh qatlh vIwIvlu'pu'. It means I ask why I was chosen, not I say why I was chosen. The latter would require a relative pronoun, which Klingon doesn't have. The former is simply reported speech: I say, "Why was I chosen?" It means exactly the same as I ask why I was chosen. In Klingon both of those sentences are translated into jIjatlh qatlh vIwIvlu'pu'. (You might add a jIghel somewhere nearby to make clear that a question is asked, but it's pretty clear from the reported speech.)
So you would agree if I say things like
{qatlh HoD HoH 'e' vISov}
"I know why he killed the captain"
No, this is a relative pronoun in English and cannot be
translated this way in Klingon.
or avoiding the QAO-Problem:
{qatlh HoD HoH jIja'}
"I tell why he killed the captain."
No. You didn't tell anything here; you asked a question.
If you had said qatlh HoD HoHpu' jIjatlh, I'd understand
this as I ask why he killed the captain. It's no different
in meaning from I say, "Why did he kill the captain?"
(Notice that the perfective is required, because the killing is
completed.)
{chay' Duj chenmoHlu' 'e' vISov}
"I know how the ship is constructed."
No. This is a relative pronoun in English, and cannot be
translated this way in Klingon.
PS: I'm really just talking about an interesting topic. No offense intended.
None taken; I also think it's interesting.
-- SuStel http://trimboli.name