tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Dec 15 07:37:30 1995
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Re: [What, me worry?]
>Date: Thu, 14 Dec 1995 20:43:21 -0800
>From: "David Wood" <[email protected]>
>[email protected] (Alan Anderson) ghitlhwI'
>>David Wood writes:
>>>...The TKD doesn't have words for "to fear," "to worry," or "to be afraid."
>> Try the verb {Haj} "dread". The verb suffix {-vIp} indicates fear also.
>> There's also the noun {rejmorgh} "worrywort". We have many tools!
>The -vip suffix modifies another verb, so it's very hard to use by itself.
>Or IS it? There's no standalone word {vIp} in the dictionary, so it COULD
>be argued, however weakly, that {vIp} could be made a word by itself. But I
>digress.
I doubt it; despite one or two cases, we have no regular productive case of
suffixes becoming standalones. I think the point about -vIp being only a
suffix is an indication of the Klingon mindset. Just like "-nIS"... you
can't "need" in isolation, you have to need TO DO SOMETHING. "needing"
requires an action that's needed, just like transitive verbs require
objects. "being willing" (-qang) similarly requires something that one is
willing to do. So too, in the Klingon mindset, "being afraid" implies that
there is some action that is not being taken due to fear, and thus you
can't "be afraid" without being afraid TO DO SOMETHING.
Of course, there's "Haj", which sort of argues against that...
>ngaSwi' gharghmey chu' jIpoSmoH. wejpuH.
vIpoSmoH; it has an object. What are container-worms? Are they worms that
live in containers? How do you open worms? A container of worms is (if
anything) "gharghmey ngaSwI'" (there was a HUGE discussion over whether or
not you can use N-N this way a while back, and I don't want to reopen that
can of... well. I'm just pointing out that you need to get your word-order
right. "ngaSwI' ghargh" is a kind of ghargh. "ghargh ngaSwI'" is a kind
of ngaSwI'")
~mark