tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Feb 21 15:05:17 2002
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Re: agentive -wI'
Sean M. Burke wrote:
>I've got a wee question about -wI'. In The Klingon Dictionary, I see
>examples of it which are all of the form VERBROOT-wI'. However, can one
>have other verb affixes?
Theoretically, yes; but in practice...? I know of only five such words,
all of which appeared after TKD and all occurring with the suffix {-moH}:
ghojmoHwI' "teacher" [source?]
chenmoHwI' "creator, maker" (KGT)
Hew chenmoHwI' "sculptor" (KGT p.79)
najmoHwI' "lullaby" (KGT)
ngaDmoHwI' "stabilizer (component of a ship)" (KGT & BOP)
yoymoHwI' "inverter"
("I had needed some technobable once and created inverter...which Marc
[Okrand] said was perfect." [Bill Willmerdinger, BabelCon 2])
Anyone know of -canonical- examples with other suffixes + {-wI'}?
>To take the ever popular theme of killing (HoH) as an example, could these
>be valid?
>
>?HoHta'wI' -- he/she who has deliberately killed
>?HoHpu'wI' -- he/she who has killed, but maybe not deliberately
>?HoHlaHwI' -- he/she who could kill ("potential killer")
>?HoHlaHta'wI' -- he/she who may have killed, deliberately
>?HoHlu'wI' -- he/she who is killed
>?HoHmoHwI' -- he/she who causes killings
>?HoHrupwI' -- he/she who is ready to kill
>?HoHeghwI' -- he/she who kills himself
Except for {-moHwI'}, I've never seen any of these patterns used by
Okrand. I have seen other people use them in fiction or on the mailing
list, however. They certainly seem grammatical.
>And just maybe some shade of meaning could be imparted by pronoun prefixes,
>a` la Iroquois semi-nominals?
>
>DughojmoHwI' - he/she who teaches you (singlular)
Some people on the list have toyed with these conjugated types, though
AFAIK Okrand never has. Again, it does seems grammatical. Perhaps they're
more likely to be used in poetry where syllable count, meter, rhyme,
alliteration, etc. are important.
You're more likely to see conjugated verbs with {-bogh} than {-wI'}: i.e.
{DughojmoHbogh be'} "the woman who teaches/taught you". Exx.:
muSuvbogh DoS vIpoQ.
I need a target that fights back. ST5
to'baj 'uS lughoDlu'bogh tIlaj
Accept these stuffed tobbaj legs! PK
jagh lucharghlu'ta'bogh HuH ghopDu'lIj lungaSjaj!
May the bile of the vanquished fill your hands! PK
Qapqu' wovmoHbogh janHommey!
It even has working lights! (Hallmark)
vay' DaneHbogh yIchargh
Conquer what you desire. TKW
loghDaq Suvrupbogh SuvwI'pu' chaH Hoch SuvwI'pu''e'
In space, all warriors are cold warriors ("warriors who are ready to
fight"). TKW
'avwI' nejDI' narghta'bogh qama' reH 'avwI' Sambej
When an escaped prisoner looks for a guard, he always finds one. TKW
[N.B. {narghta'bogh qama'} "an escaped prisoner", not *{narghta'wI'}
"escapee".]
Dajatlhbogh vIyajlaHbe'
I find no match for what you just said. (KCD .wav file)
nuH DaneHbogh yIngu'!
Which weapon do you want? ("Identify the weapon that you want!") KGT
yIntaHvIS qeylIS'e' lIjlaHbe'bogh vay' batlh 'etlhvam chenmoHlu'pu'
this sword of honor descends from the time of Kahless the Unforgettable. S8
[N.B. {qeylIS'e' lIjlaHbe'bogh vay'} "Kahless whom no one can forget", not
*{lIjlaHbe'wI'} "the unforgettable one".]
nISwI' HIch motlh HoS Hal qengwI' naQ tIq je lurarlu'bogh 'oH tlhIngan
nISwI' beH'e'.
The Klingon disruptor rifle is a standard hand held disruptor, attached to
an extended
power supply stock. S14
>And while we're at it, what's "teacher"? ghojmoHwI'? Would that argue for
>allowing -wI' with other verb affixes, at least in lexicalized cases?
As mentioned, I do have an entry for {ghojmoHwI'} "teacher", but it's
unmarked as to source. Has this one been vetted by Okrand? {ghojwI'}
"student" is used in TKW.
>(Assuming "ghojmoH" is lexicalized.)
I'm not sure I know what you mean by lexicalized, but there is a separate
entry for {ghojmoH} "teach, instruct".
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons