tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Mar 07 20:52:35 1997
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RE: "nuqneH" Sajatlh
ja' qoror:
>...Okrand wasn't consistent in his examples with "-moH." Some of
>them are passive, and some active -- I'll list all that I found, in the most
>literal form.
>
>tIjwI'ghom vIchenmoH
>I cause a boarding party to be formed. (passive.)
>
>HIQoymoH
>Cause me to hear (something). (active)
>
>nuqDaq waqwIj vIlamHa'choHmoH
>Where can I cause my shoes to be made undirty? (passive)
>
>Du'IHchoHmoH mIvvam
>This helmet causes you to become handsome. (active)
Look again -- *all* of these examples are active.
"I cause [something]."
"[Hey, you,] Cause [something]."
"Where can I cause [something]?"
"This helmet causes [something]."
What you're reading as active vs. passive might be more a matter of
the transitivity of the base verb that gets the {-moH} on it. The
first and last example you give are very similar; why do you read
one as passive and the other as active?
Actually, the example with {chen} is interesting. The "official"
definition of {chen} is "take form"; he is translating it instead
as "be formed". It's a slight blurring of the line that we tend
to draw between "stative" and "non-stative intransitive" verbs.
-- ghunchu'wI'