tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Sep 13 11:23:41 1998
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Re: Ke'Plak
>In a message dated 98-09-11 11:05:30 EDT, Voragh writes:
>
><< to'baj 'uS lughoDlu'bogh tIlaj!
> Accept these stuffed tobbaj legs! PK >>
>
>Since this is from a canon source, it must be correct. However:
>lughoD indicates that to'baj 'uS is grammatically singular even if
>inherently plural. And, tIlaj indicates a plural object. Inconsistent!
>
>peHruS
{lughoD} does mean "they stuff it", but you forgot that {-lu'} *reverses* the
usual meaning of the prefix. Cf. TKD 4.2.5 "Type 5: Indefinate Subject",
specifically the top of p.39:
Similarly, the prefix {lu-}, which normally means "they do something
to him/her", becomes "someone/something does something to them".
Thus {to'baj 'uS lughoDlu'bogh} "tobbaj legs which someone stuffed" is an
unmarked plural - like {qagh}, perhaps, because you never eat just one? - and
requires the {tI-} imperative prefix, "accept them!"
The mistake is an easy one to make. For me {-lu'} is the most confusing
suffix, and I always have to double check that I've used the right verb
prefix - or rather the *wrong* one - correctly.
--
Voragh "Grammatici certant et adhuc sub judice
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons lis est." Horace (Ars Poetica)