tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Mar 03 00:39:15 1997
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RE: KLBC: "-lu'"
- From: "David Trimboli" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: KLBC: "-lu'"
- Date: Mon, 3 Mar 97 06:59:55 UT
jatlh qoror:
> This is qoror. I'd like to know: where should you put the main noun in
> a passive sentence with "-lu'"? In English, it is considered the subject,
and
> in Latin, it is in the nominative, which is almost always the subject. (In
the
> rare other usages, it is the appositive.) But I've noticed in jatmey and
other
> sources (but no canonical ones) that it is sometimes put at the beginning of
the
> sentence. It is called the subject (in English) because you need to have a
> subject and a verb to make a whole sentence. Sometimes the subject is
implied,
> such as imperative sentences, and that would exception would have to work
more
> with Klingon. But how does Klingon work with the passive voice?
Klingon does not really have passive voice. Read carefully section 4.2.5 of
TKD. Verbs with {-lu'} can often be translated in English passive voice, but
that's not what it is in Klingon.
The purpose of {-lu'} is to indicate that the subject is indefinite; it is
unknown or general. Since the subject is the thing which is indefinite, then
the subject of the English passive voice cannot be the subject of the Klingon
sentence.
As you'll find in 4.2.5, the most difficult part of {-lu'} is the change of
verb prefixes. They mean different things when this suffix is being used.
{-vI'} is now used to indicate first-person *object* now. Thus, {vIleghlu'}
means "Someone indefinite sees me," or, when translated into the English
passive voice for a smoother sentence, "I am seen."
Objects can be added. {jIH vIleghlu'} is an extension of the previous
sentence, using the pronoun. Or, one might say, {puq leghlu'} "Someone
indefinite sees the child," or "The child is seen."
And sure, there are canonical examples of using {-lu'} with explicit objects.
TKD page 73
{So'wI' chu'lu'ta'}.
The cloaking device has been engaged.
TKD page 170
tlhaqwIj chu'Ha'lu'pu'
My chronometer has stopped. (Though I could think of better ways of saying
this.)
TKD page 171
bortaS bIr jablu'DI' reH QaQqu' nay'
Revenge is a dish that is best served cold.
There are others.
--
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97169.9