[Tlhingan-hol] The Klingon Is MUCH Braver ...

[nIqolay Q]

On Tue, Jan 6, 2015 at 5:03 PM,  <lojmitti7wi7nuv at gmail.com> wrote:
> If you assume that {loQ} works for a small degree of difference, then why not use {pe’vIl} or even {tlhoy} to indicate great difference or too much difference? Why choose a different grammatical mechanism to indicate a greater degree of contrast than you use for a smaller degree of contrast than the assumed norm?

Because the underlying concepts are typically expressed with different
grammatical mechanisms: the concept of doing something slightly is
expressed with an adverbial, {loQ}, while doing something very much is
expressed most generically with a verbal suffix, {-qu'}. {tlhoy} would
work if the intent was to express "too much", but that's not
necessarily the same as "very much". As for {pe'vIl}, has it ever been
used with a verb that didn't express some physical activity? Otherwise
I don't think there's a reason to assume it works as a generic
intensifier, especially for stative verbs.

I've noticed occasionally that {-qu'} appears to sometimes have a
comparative interpretation in some contexts, such as the instances in
TKW where "best" is translated as {nIvqu'} or {QaQqu'}. Perhaps the
translation {yoHqu' tlhIngan; yoHbe'qu' verengan} would suffice, with
the comparison implied by the two contrasting sentences.

> lojmIt tI’wI’ nuv ‘utlh
> Retired Door Repair Guy
>
>> On Jan 6, 2015, at 3:31 PM, Felix Malmenbeck <felixm at kth.se> wrote:
>>
>> We do have the formula "A Q law'be' B Q puSbe'" for negating the comparative.
>> http://klingonska.org/canon/2004-03-holqed-13-1.txt
>>
>> While not quite the same , I would wager a guess that you could use -qu' in the same way, adding it to both law' and puS.
>>
>> Another solution might be to make a two-sentence construction out of it, such as «tlhIngan yoH law' verengan yoH puS. pImqu'.»
>> That's highly ambiguous, though; it could simply mean "The Klingon is braver than the Ferengi, and as such they are very different."
>> Perhaps there's some better verb for this.
>>
>> ________________________________________
>> From: Fiat Knox [fiat_knox at yahoo.co.uk]
>> Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2015 21:09
>> To: Klingon Mailing List
>> Subject: [Tlhingan-hol] The Klingon Is MUCH Braver ...
>>
>> I'm looking at comparatives and superlatives at the moment.
>>
>> tlhIngan yoH law' verengan yoH puS is practically a set phrase.
>>
>> But has the topic cropped up where the difference is great - The Klingon is much braver than the Ferengi?
>>
>> When describing slight differences, I've often used loQ before comparatives - loQ tera'ngan yoH law' verengan yoH puS The Terran is slightly braver than a Ferengi for instance - but where there is a great difference, has the topic of expressing this greater difference cropped up?
>> And I don't mean by use of superlatives - tlhIngan yoH law' Hoch yoH puS either.
>>
>> An example: a comment has been thrown in my direction asking why law'qu' cannot be used, where to my knowledge {A X law'qu' B X puS} has not been seen in the wild. I've not seen this being discussed before here. I'd appreciate discussion on this.
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