tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Aug 26 18:22:09 1997
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Re: defective verbs
- From: Qov <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: defective verbs
- Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 18:22:03 -0700 (PDT)
Eduardo Fonseca wrote:
> Is there in klingon defective verbs, that not allow
> the 1rst person of singular, as to abolish, to colour, to compute?
> I don't know if you can use it in english, but in portuguese
> you must not use this kind of verbs
For people (like me) who didn't know, a defective verb is "lacking
some of the usual forms of conjugation."
Klingon does not seem to have defective verbs. Marc Okrand has not
revealed any grammatical rules against fully conjugating any verb.
So any verb prefix may be used on any verb, but some of the resulting
words might need special circumstances to make sense. For
example, {reQong} "we sleep you all" is grammatical, but doesn't make
sense. However, the same verb with a suffix {reQongmoH} "we cause
you to sleep" is a reasonable thing to say.
Note also the rules in section 4.2.1 on which prefixes may be used with
-'egh and -chuq.
Qov ([email protected])
Beginning Beginners' Grammarian