tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Sep 02 09:55:15 1998

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RE: KLBC - syntatic markers type 5 nsuf

: lab Michael H. Clawson:
:> noHmo' Hegh 'Iw chIlDaj
:> Due to the war he died from loss of his blood
: 
: First off, <chIl> is a verb meaning "lose, misplace", not a noun. I don't
: think it can apply to blood loss - you don't really misplace your blood.
: We do have another word which is useful, though - <regh>, which means "to
: bleed". ....  The <noHmo'> is fine, so let's fix the rest of the sentence. 
: He died from excessive blood loss, and we can express that idea with <-mo'>
: again: <reghqu'mo'>.  The whole sentence then winds up being:
:    noHmo' reghqu'mo' Hegh.

*<reghchu'> might just work here, *if* it means "bleed to death".  I'm told
that Okrand says somewhere on KCD - possibly about <yItlhutlhchu'> "Drink
up!" - that:

  The suffix is not limited to the literal meanings of the words it's
  glossed with ("clearly, perfectly"). In this case it includes "completely"
  (to completion, all the way).

Cf. also KGT p.49:

  ... the verb suffix {-chu'} (perfectly), when used with some verbs of
  fighting, implies that the fight results in death. From the Klingon
  point of view, {Suvchu'} (fight perfectly) is fight to the death. A 
  similar construction is used for dueling ({Hay'chu'}, "duel to the
  death"). On the other hand, {-chu'} does not add this meaning to all
  verbs. {HeDchu'} ("retreat perfectly") means simply that there is a
  full withdrawal; though death may occur as part of the retreat, it is
  not necessarily implied by the verb."

Klingons, however, view bleeding somewhat differently than do humans:

  Note that for a Klingon warrior, bleeding is an indication of a
  particularly exhilarating battle, not a symbol of defeat." (KGT 192)

<reghchu'> may therefore mean something quite different - if, in fact, it
means anything at all! (Someone should ask Maltz.)  As a possibility only,
then:  

  noHmo' reghchu'.  Hegh.  

: >Dujwijvo' lItHa'
: >Get off my ship
: 
: Capitalize those I's. You also forgot a verb prefix: <DujwIjvo' yIlItHa'>.
: If you are addressing multiple people, the prefix is different: <DujwIjvo'
: pelItHa'>. Consider also some alternative vocabulary here: <tIj>, <jol>, and
: <Qol>. Think of how they might be used in a similar sentence.

<mej> would work too: <DujwIj yImej!>.  Also, <-vo'> may not be used with
<lItHa'>. See the Clipped pet command, which is our only example of the verb
in context:

  jol SeHlaw lItHa'! 
  Get off that transporter control panel! PK
 
: pagh
: Beginners' Grammarian


-- 
Voragh                           "Grammatici certant et adhuc sub judice
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons     lis est."         Horace (Ars Poetica)

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