tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Sep 01 21:20:26 1997
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KGT confirmations
- From: "David Trimboli" <[email protected]>
- Subject: KGT confirmations
- Date: Mon, 1 Sep 97 22:29:00 UT
I'm going my second intensive reading of KGT (the sort of reading that makes
me memorize exactly where everything is, even if I can't remember exactly
*what* it is). I'm currently in the section on slang, and have found some
answers to a couple of annoying problems. I apologize if someone else has
already pointed one of these out.
---
p. 147 "In its nonslang sense, {bol} does not take an object."
There's at least one word that simply does not get an object. You cannot make
the argument of "maybe it can take an object, but we don't know what sort."
(You cannot look to the slang version of this word; Okrand explains away the
apparent exception.)
If there's one word, there are probably more. I refuse to believe that out of
every word in the vocabulary, the word for "drool" was singled out as the only
intransitive verb.
p. 154 "The verb {moH} (literally, 'be ugly') normally does not take an
object." (He then goes on to explain that the slang version does, but this is
irrelevant.)
In most cases, I believe the canon definition to be a good measure of
transitivity. Not in every case. And this brings me to my second point.
---
p. 149 {qImHa'} "not pay attention"; {buSHa'} "not focus [on], ignore."
TKD defines {qImHa'} with "disregard." In English, this is a pretty firmly
transitive verb. However, Okrand now gives us an intransitive definition for
it.
This boosts my belief that {qIm} is an intransitive verb. You don't {qIm}
something in Klingon, you simply {qIm}. If you need an object, use {buS}.
This is boosted even further by the placement of these two verbs, and these
specific definitions, side by side.
---
p. 148 {Duj ngaDHa'}
It's official: we can use {-Ha'} on adjectival verbs. Yes, it's in a slang
expression, but Okrand says nothing about this being nonstandard grammar (he's
very careful about that sort of thing all through the slang section).
--
SuStel
Stardate 97669.9