[Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: chaw'

[Steven Boozer]

mayql qunenoS :
>> 'upmo verengan qabDu', verenganvaD Soj jablu'meH naDev chaw'lu'Qo'.

Qov: 
> There's a difference between {-meH}, establishing the purpose of the
> following clause, and {'e'}, acting as the direct object of the following
> clause. This says, "It's not permitted in order to serve food ..."  Also I
> spy a dropped qaghwI'.
> 
> Have you met the pronoun {net} yet?

More on {net} "that" (previous topic):

  qama'pu' DIHoH net Sov 
  One knows we kill prisoners. TKD

  Qu'vaD lI' net tu'bej 
  One certainly finds it useful for the mission. TKD

  vImuHlu' net wuqHa' 
  My death sentence was commuted! (ENT "Affliction")

  neHmaH Da'el net tu' 
  Caught breaching the Neutral Zone. MKE

  Duj ghajchugh pagh, beylI'vo' 'oH Daje' net chaw' 
  If [ship is] unowned, you may buy it from the Bank. MKE


TKD 65f.:  Klingon has two special pronouns, {'e'} and {net}, which refer to the previous sentence as a whole. They are used primarily, though not exclusively, with verbs of thinking or observation (such as know, see). They are always treated as the object of the verb, and the verb always takes a prefix indicating a third-person singular object. What is a single sentence in English is often two sentences in Klingon. {net} is used only under special circumstances, but {'e'} is common... In complex sentences of this type, the second verb never takes an aspect suffix. (section 4.2.7) When the verb of the second sentence has a third-person subject (that is, the pronominal prefix is 0) but the intended meaning is one or someone, rather than he, she, it, or they, {net} is used instead of {'e'}.  
   qama'pu' DIHoH net Sov 
   One knows we kill prisoners [...]
The first sentence here is {qama'pu' DIHoH} "We kill prisoners". The second sentence is {net Sov} "One knows that". The full construction implies that it is common knowledge that the group to which the speaker belongs kills prisoners. 
   Qu'vaD lI' net tu'bej 
   One certainly finds it useful for the mission. 
The first part of this example is {Qu'vaD lI'} "It is useful for the mission". The second part is {net tu'bej} "One certainly finds that" or "One certainly observes that". The full construction might also be translated "One will certainly observe that it is useful to the mission". Note that although the word will makes a more flowing translation, there is nothing in the Klingon sentence indicating future tense.
   When the verb of the second sentence is {neH} "want", neither {'e'} nor {net} is used, but the construction is otherwise identical to that just described.


Some years ago [I don't have the exact date] Seqram once usefully observed that:

   as soon as you catch yourself saying... {'e' Xlu'}, immediately
   start to think seriously about substituting {net X}.


--
Voragh
tlhIngan ghantoH pIn'a'
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons