tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Dec 27 18:39:21 1997
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Re: KLBC:suffixes
- From: "William H. Martin" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: KLBC:suffixes
- Date: Sat, 27 Dec 1997 21:38:27 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time)
- Priority: NORMAL
It is good to write in this format. It makes it easy for me to
work with your writing attempts. Thanks.
On Sat, 27 Dec 1997 10:11:10 -0800 (PST) chas
<[email protected]> wrote:
> SoH DuyepHa''a' QeH'a'li'?
> Does your wrath make you careless?
I'll take these words in reverse order. Look at {QeH'a'lI'}
again. I like the word you were trying to form. {QeH'a'} is good
for "wrath". Meanwhile, can wrath talk? Try again.
Now, {yepHa'} does mean "be careless". It does not mean "cause
to be careless". You forgot a suffix. The {SoH} at the beginning
does add emphasis, which fits your meaning fairly well. It feels
like, "I control MY anger. Does your wrath cause YOU to be
careless?"
> may' lu'Suvpu' neghpu'
> The soldiers have fought the battle.
Again, I'll go in reverse order. {negh} is already plural. You
don't want a plural suffix on it.
Other than that it is fine. I don't have notes on whether one
fights battle or fights people AT a battle, (though I'm sure
voragh can give examples) so I can't confirm that {may'} is the
right direct object for {Suv}, but I believe this is fine.
Meanwhile, you got trapped by a detail. Most people forget {lu-}
when it is needed, but since {negh} is already plural and it
shouldn't have a plural suffix on it, in Klingon, collective
nouns (though which are inherantly plural) are grammatically
treated as if they were singular. That means that if {negh} is
your subject, you don't use {lu-}.
> QongwI' yabwI'
> My brain is sleeping.
Look at QongwI' again. In particular, look at the suffix.
> qama' 'avlI' 'avwI'
> The guard guards the prisoner.
This is correct, though it does specifically point towards a
future time that the guard will cease to guard the prisoner.
This is probably not really a necessary reference. Just {'av}
alone or {'avtaH} would be more typical here.
Long ago, I came up with the following way to understand {-lI'}.
Let's say you are standing at the edge of a cliff. Your foot
slips. You lose your balance and begin to fall backwards off the
cliff. You might utter: {jIpumchoH!}
As soon as you lose contact with the ground, falling backwards,
you yell {jIpum!}
As you fall with your back to the ground, you stare up at the
cliff as it heads into the distance at an accellerating rate and
yell {jIpumtaH!}
You slowly tumble until you can see the ground, which approaches
you at an alarming speed. You then yell, {jIpumlI'!}
Your situation is not different for {jIpumlI'} and {jIpumtaH},
except for your keen awareness of the end of the action of the
verb. See? It is a matter of focus. When you say {jIpumlI'},
your attention is quite focussed on the end of the process of
falling.
> chaH nuchmo' vImuSmo'
> Since he is a coward, I hate him.
You went a suffix too far. Now, guess which suffix you need to
remove to make your Klingon and English say the same thing.
> chasm
charghwI', taghwI' pabpo' ru'
Temporary Beginner's Grammarian, December 20-30