tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Feb 16 14:25:02 2004

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Re: Using -wI' on stative verbs?

Steven Boozer ([email protected]) [KLI Member] 

Philip:
> > Can {-wI'} also be used on stative verbs ("adjectives") to describe
> > someone or something who is like that adjective?

ngabwI':
>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.

Philip:
> > 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...)

ngabwI':
>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.

Philip was right to be cautious, as the vast majority of {-wI'} nouns are, 
in fact, derived from transitive or action verbs.  But ngabwI' correctly 
points out that they can also be derived from qualities, although the 
number of canonical examples is much, much smaller.

Look at KGT p. 152 for three of these:

   This word [Hom] literally means bone, but its slang usage is no doubt
   influenced by the noun suffix {-Hom}, a diminutive that adds a meaning
   of smallness or lack of importance... There are a number of standard
   counterparts to {Hom}, such as {pujwI'} ("weakling"), {langwI'} ("one
   who is thin"), and {runwI'} ("one who is short").

Here's another one (KGT 159):

   The nonslang term for an expert is {po'wI'} (literally, "one who is
   expert, skilled").

A couple of examples in sentences:

   pujwI' HIvlu'chugh quvbe'lu'
   There is no honor in attacking the weak. TKW

   reH Hegh yoHwI'pu''e'
   Always it is the brave ones who die. TKW

So we have the option of saying either {pujwI'} "weakling" or {nuv/loD/be' 
puj} "weak person/man/woman" etc.



-- 
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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