tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jul 31 22:23:54 1997

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Re: SopwI'pu' parHa' Qe'wI'pu' vulqanvo'



[email protected] on behalf of Norman Thomas wrote:

>    I didn't know there was a Klingon word for restaurant. Now that I've
> found it I can try to write what I wanted to : -
> SopwI'pu parHa' Qe'wI'pu' vulqanvo'
> Vulcan restaurateurs like diners.

{Qe'} is a noun.  You cannot use the verb suffix {-wI'} on a noun.  If you do 
use {-wI'}, you actually using the NOUN suffix {-wI'} which means "my <noun>, 
which is capable of using language."

You cannot use {vulqanvo'} here.  Nouns with Type 5 suffixes go at the 
beginning of the OVS phrase, and so cannot be used to modify other nouns like 
this.  Use {vulqangan}.

SopwI'pu' parHa' vulqangan Qe' vu'wI'pu'
Vulcan restaurant managers like diners.

> I want to say clap hands as a closing remark to my email : how does
> peqIp ghopDu'
> fit in with Klingons? [I'm asking for cultural comment as well as
> grammar here.]

When using commands, the subject is always {SoH} or {tlhIH}.  It cannot be 
{ghopDu'}.

We don't have a word for this action, but you might be able to construct 
something:

ghopDu'lIj tIqIptaH
HIt your hands.

ghopDu'lIj tIpaw'moHtaH
Make your hands collide.

Now the cultural remark:

I think we've only seen Klingons clap at non-Klingon occasions.  For Klingon 
situations I'm sure they just pound whatever surface is nearby, crash their 
heads together, break some furniture, and shout a lot.

-- 
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97582.9


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