I think your question is valid, in that it is not fully thought out and I think you want to know what ideas would bring you to think it through more thoroughly. What is {‘Iv jIH?} asking? It is really saying, “Given the set of beings capable of using language, identify which one I am.” It is not asking what TYPE of entity you are. It’s asking which unique entity you are. A name is an identifier. A role (my wife’s husband, my boss’s employee) is an identifier. A characteristic, like “stupid” is not an identifier. Remember that “to be” is expressed two DIFFERENT ways in Klingon. {jIH} has to do with identity. tlhIngan jIH. charghwI’ jIH. We don’t say, *QIp jIH* because the verb {QIp} already includes the verb “to be”. We just use the usual prefix {jI-} with descriptive verbs of being, like {QIp}. So, to answer {‘Iv jIH?} or {jIH ‘Iv?} we use the pronoun as the identity-related verb and the noun (a role or a name) to replace the question word. {tlhIngan jIH} or {charghwI’ jIH}. If the answer would be {jIQIp} or {jIQIpbe’}, then the question has to be {jIQIp’a’?} That’s just how the grammar works. In English, we have one “to be” verb for identity or to link a subject to an adjective. In Klingon, the adjective IS THE VERB. You don’t use both forms of the English “to be” in a single Klingon sentence, and you don’t confuse which kind of “to be” question you are asking in Klingon. Does this help? charghwI’ vaghnerya’ngan rInpa’ bomnIS be’’a’ pI’.
On Jan 8, 2020, at 9:22 AM, mayqel qunen'oS <mihkoun@gmail.com> wrote:
Suppose someone wants to say:
"what am I ? stupid ?"
And suppose that the cookie monster, forbids him to say: {jIQIp'a' ?}, and be done with it, so he *has* to find a way to translate the "what am I ?".
How should he say it ? Should he say: {nuq jIH} ? Or should he say {'Iv jIH} ?
I'm troubled by this, because the way I *feel* the klingon {QIpwI'}, is it being more of an {'Iv} rather than a {nuq}.
But reading {'Iv jIH}, I would expect to read something like {(name of a person) jIH}, rather that {QIpwI' jIH}.
I don't know.. Perhaps I'm (overly) influenced by greek/english on this..
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