tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Dec 03 21:27:28 1995

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Re: KLBC: Happy New Year

Kordite writes:
>I'm not sure that I see anything inherrently bad with "it goods you."
>Sure, it sounds kinda silly in English, but in English we would say "it
>is good to you."  We add a bunch of extra words but isn't it the same
>thing as "it goods you?"

I don't think it is.  I believe "is good to you" means more like
"is good for your benefit", which in Klingon is {SoHvaD QaQ}.  I
am SURE that {QaQ}, a "stative" verb, should not have an object.

>What is this 'intransitive' thing, anyway?

A "transitive" verb can have a recipient or beneficiary of its action.
Grammatically it takes an object.  For instance, {lon} "abandon".
One does not simply abandon, one abandons *something*.  {vay' lonlu'}.

An "intransitive" verb does NOT have a recipient.  It does NOT take
an object.  For instance, {tor} "kneel".  One cannot kneel something,
one simply kneels.  {torlu'}.

Many verbs in TKD are of the form "be [something]", like {val} and
{qaq}.  These verbs describe a quality or condition; we call them
"stative" verbs.  They describe the subject.  They do not take objects.
One can not "be bad" something.  "Stative" verbs are intransitive.

Intransitive verbs can be used with a transitive meaning using {-moH).
One can *cause* something to be bad:  {bIqaq SoH 'ach ghaH DaqaqmoH}.

-- ghunchu'wI'               batlh Suvchugh vaj batlh SovchoH vaj

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