tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue May 27 16:41:09 1997
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RE: KLBC: Verbal sufix for pronouns
- From: "David Trimboli" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: KLBC: Verbal sufix for pronouns
- Date: Tue, 27 May 97 22:48:44 UT
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