tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Dec 03 23:32:46 1995
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Re: KLBC: Happy New Year
On Sun, 3 Dec 1995, Kevin A. Geiselman, Knight Errant wrote:
> yoDtargh said:
>
> > If you want "your year" to be the subject of "be good", it needs to
> > follow the verb. Also, I consider {QaQ} (be good) to be intransitive
> > because it doesn't make since to say "it goods you".
>
> 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?"
>
> What is this 'intransitive' thing, anyway?
Transitive verbs are verbs which can take take objects.
Examples: HoH (kill), muS (hate), qIp (hit), baH (fire/shoot)
HoD HoHta' maghwI'. (The traitor killed the captain.)
romuluSnganpu' muStaH tlhInganpu'. (Klingans hate Romulans.)
'avwI' qIp qama'. (The prisoner hits the guard.)
DIvI' DujvaD peng baH toQDuj. (The Bird-of-Prey fires a torepedo at
the Federation ship.)
Intransitive verbs are verbs which don't take objects.
Any Klingon verb whose translation is "be something" , is intransitive.
Examples: Quch (be happy), tIn (be big), QaQ (be good), QIp (be stupid)
Quch tera'ngan. (The Terran is happy.)
tIn DaSmeywIj. (My boots are big.)
QaQqu' be'Homvetlh. (That girl is very good.)
QIp verenganpu'. (Ferengis are stupid.)
Intransitive verbs are are verbs which describe a state or quality, and
they are the only verbs which can be used as adjectives. (Sec. 4.4.)
tera'ngan Quch (the happy Terran)
DaSmeywIj tIn (my big boots)
be'Homvetlh QaQqu' (that very good girl)
verenganpu' QIp (the stupid Ferengis)
It doesn't make a lot of sense when you use objects with intransitive verbs:
*tera'ngan Quch 'oH. (It happies the Terran.)
*DaSmeywIj vIQuch. (I big my boots.)
*verenganpu' QIp HIqvam. (This liquor stupids the Ferengi.)
However, you can make intransitive verbs become transitive, by adding
{-moH} or {-choHmoH}.
tera'ngan QuchchoHmoH. (He/she/it causes the Terran to become happy.)
DaSmeywIj vItInchoHmoH. (I make my boots become big; I enlarge my
boots.)
verenganpu' QIpmoH HIqvam. (This liquor makes Ferengis stupid; This
liquor stupefies Ferengis.)
Back to your other question. Since {QaQ} (be good) is intransitive, it
can't take an object. However, the beneficiary of {QaQ} can be indicated
with {-vaD} and the purpose for which something is good can be
expressed with {-meH}.
SoHvaD QaQ Herghvam. (This medicine is good for you.)
SoHvaD QaQjaj DISvam. (May this year be good to you.)
romuluSnganpu' luHoHlu'meH QaQ nuHvam. (This weapon is good for killing
Romulans.)
> Kordite
yoDtargh