On Tue, 16 Feb 2021 at 16:18, SuStel <sustel@trimboli.name> wrote:
I think you're both assuming too much. You're assuming the expression cannot be analyzed in the normal way. De'vID is assuming that the English translation accurately reflects the meaning of the Klingon proverb. I don't think either position is clearly supportable. The Klingon sentence is odd, the English translation is odd, and no Klingon has explained it further.
I'll readily admit that I don't know what the English translation actually means. But I think *some* interpretation of the English translation has to accurately reflect the meaning of the Klingon proverb (assuming Dr. Okrand didn't completely mess up here). There's no reason to believe that the *grammar* of Replacement Proverbs is any different than normal sentences, is there? (Contrast this with toasts, for which we're told explicitly that they follow different grammatical rules.) -- De'vID