tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Jan 25 20:24:49 1998

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing



[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]

Re: KLBC: maj/qab



At 11:07 98-01-25 -0800, Scott wrote:
}I had understood that {maj} was used only as an exclamation ("Good!
}Hah!  Yesss!"  Okay, maybe that last one is {majQa'}.) and not as a
}verb meaning "be bad."  However, in CK, Okrand lists pairs of words,
}such as {tIn/mach} ("big/small"), and includes {maj/qab} for
}"good/bad," implying that {maj} is an antonym of {qab}.  Help.

You are observant.

Both {maj} and {qab} can be used as exclamations.  In the pet training
section you hear Okrand say {qab!  Ha'DIbaH qab!} "bad!  Bad animal!".  The
equivalent praise would be {maj!  HaDI'baH QaQ!} "Good!  Good animal!".
maj/qab are a pair if it's an exclamation and QaQ/qab if you're looking at
adjectives.  I agree that it was a confusing example.

Qov     [email protected]
Beginners' Grammarian                 



Back to archive top level