tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue May 27 16:41:09 1997

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RE: KLBC: Verbal sufix for pronouns



jatlh Edy Fonseca:

> We can use the Rover verbal sufixes << be'>> for pronoums as: tlIngan jIHbe' 

> Is there any other we can use?

We have also seen {-taH} on pronouns.  I also don't see a problem with any of 
the noun suffixes.  Generally speaking, if you're putting a verbal suffix 
other than {-taH} or {-be'} on a pronoun, you could be saying the sentence 
better some other way.  Still, pronouns are weird enough that you can get away 
with it to create a certain effect.

> And about the Suffix #9 << ghach >> wich is not so clear for me yet.
> I want to say an imperative order:  Keep the conection!
> Can I say: rarghach yIpol  ?

Well, if you've got it, I refer you to HolQeD 3:3 and 3:4, which discuss much 
on {-ghach}.  If you don't have it (is there a section of the FAQ on this?), 
the short answer is that {-ghach} will turn a verb into a noun, but if you 
don't have some other verbal suffix between the verb and {-ghach}, your 
language will sound very marked.  Klingons hearing {rolghach} will understand 
it, but will look at you like you've got three heads.

A note: "Keep the connection" sounds like a highly idiomatic sentence to me.  
Unless you are talking about something which is actually connected, like a 
connection to the Internet or a connecting stick between two Tinker-Toy 
cylinders, you're not being literal.  And how do you "keep" such a thing?  In 
your hand?

Perhaps a proverb from TKW would better suit your purpose here.

> In TKD (176) Okrand gives us the exemple about lo' (use)
> so, lo'ghach  means  useful ?

No.  There's a verb, {lo'laH} "be valuable," whose exact structure is a bit 
uncertain.  Is it a multi-syllabic verb, is it just {lo'} + {-laH}, or is it a 
combination of the two?  We're not sure.  Then there's {lI'} "be useful."

If you want to use {lo'} and {-ghach} without being shot for being too weird, 
you must find an appropriate suffix to use.  Don't just choose any suffix just 
to have one; you need a relevant one.  Since {lo'} is a noun anyway (as well 
as a verb), if you were going to say {lo'ghach}, you might just as well say 
{lo'}.  But {lo'} is just any use.  If you wanted to talk about a use which 
has already been completed or used, you could use {lo'pu'ghach}.  Or, if you 
wanted to talk about an absolutely perfect use for something, you could use 
{lo'chu'ghach}.  {-ghach} is there to keep the noun as a noun, but to add the 
detail of the verbal suffixes.

As a rule of thumb:  if you use {-ghach} more than once in any given message, 
you're probably overusing it.

-- 
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97404.4


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