tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Feb 23 06:50:05 1998

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Re: KLBC: Counterparts

My email client just spat this week-old message from deep within 
itself somewhere.  I apologize for the lateness of this reply.

ja' Edy:
>I'm studing the "oppositive" words and I'm having some doubts.

The grammatical term in English for words with opposite meaning is
"antonym".

>I'm not sure if their respective counterparts exist or if I have to attach
>them
>the verbal suffixes -be' or -Ha'. Examples, please!!  :-))

{-Ha'} can mean either an undoing of an action or a wrongly performed 
action.  It's not always a simple opposite.  The suffix {-be'} usually
implies a basic lack of some quality or action.  I think it's often a 
good way to make a general opposite, but it shouldn't be used without 
thinking.  {Quch} "be happy" -- {Quchbe'} "be unhappy".  {Quchbe'} is
apparently a neutral condition.  The actual *opposite* of {Quch} is 
{'IQ} "be sad".

For most of the examples below, you can use {-be'} to mean "not" 
unless you need to indicate an active opposite or undoing of the word.
In a few cases, there is a different verb that might be reasonable to 
express the opposite idea.  I'll give my suggestions, but they won't 
all be applicable in every case.

>What is the counterpart of qub (be rare)?

The English opposite of "be rare" is "be common" -- perhaps Klingon
{motlh} "be usual"?

>What is the counterpart of loj (be all gone)?

{lojbe'} is "be not all gone" or "still be at least partially there."
{lojHa'} implies to me that it was all gone and it's coming back.
Maybe {ratlh} "remain" would work.

>What is the counterpart of watlh (be pure)?

{qal} "be corrupt", perhaps?

>What is the counterpart of Soy' (be clumsy)?

{po'} "be skilled"?

>What is the counterpart of Hurgh (be dark)?

{wov} "be light, bright" seems to be the obvious answer here.

>What is the counterpart of Duy' (be defective)?

{pup} "be perfect, exact"?

>What is the counterpart of vul (be unconsious)?

The only thing I'd suggest here is {vulbe'} "be conscious".

>What is the counterpart of buD (be lazzy)?

{buDbe'} "be not lazy".  Perhaps {qu'} "be fierce" might be 
appropriate in some contexts.

>What is the counterpart of mIp (be rich)?

{mIpbe'} "be not rich".  {mIpHa'} "be poor" has an implication that 
the subject used to be rich but isn't anymore.

-- ghunchu'wI'

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