tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Feb 14 09:38:56 2004
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Re: Using -wI' on stative verbs?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Philip Newton" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2004 8:52 AM
Subject: Using -wI' on stative verbs?
Philip
Can {-wI'} also be used on stative verbs ("adjectives") to describe
someone or something who is like that adjective?
For example, is {ngo'wI'} "something old" or do I have to say {Doch
ngo'}? Similarly with {qanwI'} "somebody old" vs {nuv qan}? (And I know
that {qanwI'} already has a meaning...)
Yes, these usages are perfectly acceptable. Despite the fact that these
verbs are glossed as adjectives in English, they are still *verbs* in
Klingon. {-wI'} is used to indicate that the word is a noun that executes
the verb it is attached to, and {qan} "to be old" is indeed a verb.
And it is precisely because of this double meaning of {qanwI'} that we have
the idiomatic gesture of pointing your pinkie at someone to indicate that
you think they are old.
--ngabwI'
Beginners' Grammarian,
Klingon Language Institute
http://kli.org/
HovpoH 701167.3
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