tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Jun 12 08:17:12 1998

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Re: Relative clauses

: We don't have any evidence that Klingon uses its question words the same
: way.  Indeed, we don't have any evidence that Klingon uses any relative
: pronouns at all.  Instead, there is the verb suffix {-bogh} to create a
: relative clause which describes or specifies a noun using a verb phrase.
: {Hew vIlegh} "I see the statue."  If I want to specify a particular one,
: {Hew DachenmoHbogh vIlegh} "I see the statue which you made."  The noun
: being described is called the "head noun" of the relative clause.
: 
: With one odd exception which I'll ignore for the moment, all the examples
: we have of {-bogh} use the head noun as the subject or the object of the
: relative clause.  They can all be translated using the English relative
: pronouns "that", "which", or "who".  
:    [snip]
: Oh, the "odd exception" about {-bogh} that I mentioned before is from the
: Useful Klingon Expressions appendix of TKD:  {jIHtaHbogh naDev vISovbe'}
: is translated "I'm lost."  It defies analysis using the established rules
: of grammar.

In case anyone's interested, here are the other attestations of {-bogh}
which I know of in recognized canon:

qIppu'bogh yaS 
the officer who hit him. TKD

yaS qIppu'bogh 
the officer whom he hit. TKD

qIppu'bogh yaS vIlegh 
I see the officer who hit him. TKD

mulegh qIppu'bogh yaS 
The officer who hit him sees me. TKD

yaS qIppu'bogh vIlegh 
I see the officer whom he hit. TKD

mulegh yaS qIppu'bogh 
The officer whom he hit sees me. TKD

Hov ghajbe'bogh ram rur pegh ghajbe'bogh jaj 
A day without secrets is like a night without stars. PK

to'baj 'uS lughoDlu'bogh tIlaj 
Accept these stuffed tobbaj legs! PK

matay'DI' vIHtaHbogh bIQ rur mu'qaDmey 
Between us, curses run like water. PK

jagh lucharghlu'ta'bogh HuH ghopDu'lIj lungaSjaj!
May the bile of the vanquished fill your hands! PK

Qapqu' wovmoHbogh janHommey 
It even has working lights! (Hallmark) 
["That is, little devices that cause (something) to be light or bright or
little devices that brighten (something) or little devices that light
(something) up or the like." (MO on EF 6/97)]

meQtaHbogh qachDaq Suv qoH neH 
Only a fool fights in a burning house. TKW

reH boch qutluch lo'lu'bogh 
The used kut'luch is always shiny. TKW

butlh ghajbogh nuv'e' yIHo' 
Admire the person with dirt under his fingernails. TKW

vay' DaneHbogh yIchargh 
Conquer what you desire. TKW

loghDaq Suvrupbogh SuvwI'pu' chaH Hoch SuvwI'pu''e' 
In space, all warriors are cold warriors ("warriors who are ready to
fight"). TKW

quv Hutlh HoHbogh tlhIngan 'ach qabDaj 'angbe'bogh 
A Klingon who kills without showing his face has no honor. TKW

'ang'eghQo' quv Hutlhbogh jagh neH ghobtaHvIS ghaH 
Only an enemy without honor refuses to show himself in battle. TKW

yIntaHbogh qagh jablu'DI' reH nIvqu' qagh 
Gagh is always best when served live. TKW

'avwI' nejDI' narghta'bogh qama' reH 'avwI' Sambej 
When an escaped prisoner looks for a guard, he always finds one. TKW

romuluSngan Sambogh 'ej HoHbogh nejwI' 
Romulan hunter-killer probe. KCD

Dajatlhbogh vIyajbe' 
I find no match for what you have just said. KCD (?!)

tajwIj 'oHbe' chorlIj jeqbogh Dochvetlh'e' 
That is not my dagger protruding from your midsection. FTG

Hom Hutlhbogh ghab 
ghab that lacks bone. KGT

nuH DaneHbogh yIngu'! 
Which weapon do you want? ("Identify the weapon that you want!") KGT

Hoch jaghpu'Daj HoHbogh SuvwI' yIvup 
"Pity the warrior who slays all his foes." KGT

SuDbogh Dargh 'ej wovbogh 
The tea that is {SuD} and light. KGT

boqrat chej Qevlu'pu'bogh 
stewed bokrat liver ("bokrat liver that has been stewed") KGT

Soj vutlu'pu'bogh 
food that someone has prepared. KGT

loS... qIb HeHDaq, 'u' SepmeyDaq Sovbe'lu'bogh lenglu'meH He ghoSlu'bogh
 retlhDaq 'oHtaH 
It waits... on the edge of the galaxy, beside a passage to unknown regions
 of the universe. DSN99

yIntaHvIS qeylIS'e' lIjlaHbe'bogh vay' batlh 'etlhvam chenmoHlu'pu' 
this sword of honor descends from the time of Kahless the Unforgettable. S8

nISwI' HIch motlh HoS Hal qengwI' naQ tIq je lurarlu'bogh 'oH tlhIngan
 nISwI' beH'e' 
The Klingon disruptor rifle is a standard hand held disruptor, attached
 to an extended power supply stock. S14 

wa'DIch tlhIngan Dujmey luleghlu'pu'bogh rur qItI'nga Duj tera' vatlh DISpoH
  cha'maH wej HochHom lo'lu'taH
Similar in configuration to the first Klingon vessels encountered, the
  K'Tinga-class remained in use for most of the 23rd century. S15

qorDu'Daj tuq 'oS Ha'quj'e' tuQbogh wo'rIv
The sash that Worf wears is a symbol of his family's house. S20

yIntaHbogh tlhIngan Soj tlhol jablu'DI' tIvqu'lu' 
Klingon food is best when served fresh and live. S21

yejquv DevwI' moj ghawran 'e' wuqta' cho' 'oDwI' Dapu'bogh janluq pIqarD HoD. 
Gowron... named leader of the High Council by Captain Jean-Luc Picard, who was
 acting as Arbiter of Succession. S25

Heghpu'bogh tlhIngan mInDu' lupoSmoHlu' 
The eyes of the fallen Klingon are opened... S31

Heghpu'bogh latlhpu' ghuHmoH bey. ghoS tlhIngan SuvwI' maq. 
This yell... serves to warn the other dead that a Klingon warrior is coming. S31

puvtaHbogh Duj ngabmoHlaw' So'wI' 
[cloaking device] allowing the ship to fly in a state of practical
invisibility. S33

ngongmeH wa' DujDaq nuHmey nISbe'bogh So'wI' jomlu'pu' 
[A cloaking device which didn't disrupt weaponry was installed in one
experimental
 ship. (untranslated on card)] S33

jar DamaSqu'bogh yIngu' 
What/which is your favorite month?
("Identify the month that you very much prefer!") (MO on EF)

yoHbogh matlhbogh je SuvwI' Say'moHchu' may' 'Iw 
The blood of battle washes clean the warrior brave and true. (Anthem)

See also the extended interview with MO in HQ 4.2 on {-bogh}.  Okrand was
asked what the head-noun of a relative clause can be. He replied "I couldn't
make the {-bogh} thing work for me with anything other than subject or object."


Voragh

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