tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Sep 04 21:57:08 1996
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KLBC -wI' (was: Re: translation of "nonbeliever")
- From: [email protected] (HoD trI'Qal)
- Subject: KLBC -wI' (was: Re: translation of "nonbeliever")
- Date: Thu, 5 Sep 1996 00:58:23 -0400
At 09:20 AM 8/30/96 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
>At 07:34 PM 27/8/96 -0700, you wrote:
>>I am trying to translate "disbeliever" into Klingon. This is my version:
>>
>> Harbe'wI'
>>
>>This is roughly translated "one who does not believe."
>
> To me it looks like "jibber jibber". Not to be nasty or anything,
>but you can't put a noun suffix on a verb. And my TKD says {-wI}, thing/one
>who does, is a type 1 noun suffix.
Um... no.
As I just stated in another post, there are TWO suffixes -wI'.
One goes on nouns, andone goes on verbs. You have kinda squished the two
together. What the originall post wrote was grammatically correct.
> Or has something interesting turned up that I don't know about?
It isn't so much that you don't know, as that you missed. This is a common
error for beginners to make; I suspect that you have already had it pointed
out to you several times over, but in case you haven't, one of my previos
KLBC posts (in response to you again, I think), details the differences
between -wI' on a noun, and -wI' on a verb.
I think part of your confusion is that the verb suffix causes the verb to
become a noun...
You can say, for example, <baHwI'wI'>. This means "my gunner". Setting
aside for the moment that the KD has <baHwI'> as a seperate entry, let's
take a look at this...
The base verb is <baH>, which is "to fire". If I take the verb, and tack
the type 9 VERB suffix -wI' on it, It now means "one who shoots", or
"gunner"... and... WAIT A MINUTE!!!!! That's a NOUN!!!!
That's right... the type 9 verb suffix -wI' CONVERTS the verb, into the NOUN
which means "one who does <verb>". So, while <baH> is a verb, <baHwI'> is a
NOUN... and can now take noun suffixes, like any other noun... including the
NOUN suffix, -wI', which means "my (capable of speech)" (And I would HOPE my
gunner can speak!)... so <baHwI'wI'> means "my one-who-shoots (gunner)".
Another way to look at why -wI' meaning "one who does" must be on a verb is
this: let's say that your definition here is true, and that to get a word
which means "one who does <blah>", you tack -wI' on a noun. Okay. That
means it has to be valid for EVERY noun, right? Okay... then what about
?targhwI'? ? "One who does targ?" (No, I don't, get your minds OFF of the
drain, and BACK into the gutter... yer blocking my telescope! {{:) ) The
ONLY time your "definition" of -wI' will work is if the noun to which you
are attaching it just happens to have a verb that means something related...
such as when you used the noun-version of "farm".
It HAS to be "one who does <VERB>", therefore, -wI' has to go on a VERB if
you want this meaning.
>Qapla'
>
>beHwI"av
>
>P.S. I know I must be wrong because if ghunchuwI', ~mark and others haven't
>seen it, then it would mean my tlhIngan Hol is good. Believe me it isn't.
>{Har} (c;
You have a few problems you need to work through; that's just part of the
learning process. Most of you basic grammar isn't THAT bad, and you are
improving...
Some would say that I speak pretty fair Klingon. If you think I always did
(or anyone else on this list, for that matter!), then I would like to point
you into the list archives with a subject called the Top Ten Klingon Bumper
Stickers... yes, that was ME!
We all have to start SOMEWHERE...
--tQ
---
HoD trI'Qal, tlhIngan wo' Duj lIy So' ra'wI'
Captain T'rkal, Commander IKV Hidden Comet
Klingon speaker and net junkie!
HaghtaHbogh tlhIngan yIvoqQo'! toH... qatlh HaghtaH Qanqor HoD???
monlI'bogh tlhInganbe' yIvoqQo'! SoHvaD monlI' trI'Qal...