tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jun 15 10:52:29 1998

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Re: List of Klingon fauna

: > pa' luDabqu'be'.
:  
: > -- ghunchu'wI'
: 
: This one is sneaky in its weirdness. If you meant, "They do not 
: very much dwell in a room," then this is correct. Meanwhile, if 
: {pa'} is supposed to be "thereabouts", then it is an adverb 
: (chuvmey} and not a noun, so it can't be the direct object of 
: {Dab}. I'd either repeat {chal}, or omit it altogether. Using 
: {pa'} as some sort of locative pronoun replacing {chal} may make 
: sense in English, but it doesn't work in Klingon by any grammar 
: we've been shown yet.
:  
: charghwI'

I agree that {pa' Dabqu'be'} is better, but look at these examples:

  juHqo'Daq vaS'a' tu'lu'.  ngoch luchermeH 'ej wo' San luwuqmeH pa' ghom
   tlhIngan yejquv DevwI'pu'. 
  On the Homeworld, there is a great hall where the leaders of the Klingon High
   Council meet to determine policy and decide upon the fate of the Empire.
(S25)

{pa'} seems to be acting as a pronoun for {vaS'a'}.

  tlhIngan wo' yuQmey chovlu'chugh Qo'noS potlh law' Hoch potlh puS.  roD 'oHvaD
   juHqo' ponglu' neH.  pa' 'oHtaH vaS'a''e' 
  The principal planet of the Klingon Empire, Qo'noS is usually referred to as
   simply "The Homeworld."  This is where the Klingon Great Hall is located
(S27)

Here, {pa'} seems to be acting as a pronoun for either {Qo'noS} or {juHqo'}.

  batlh maHeghbej 'ej yo' qIjDaq vavpu'ma' DImuv.  pa' reH maSuvtaHqu' 
  Then we die with honor and join our fathers in the Black Fleet where
   we battle forever. (Anthem)

And here {pa'} seems to be acting as a pronoun for {yo' qIjDaq}.

When {pa'} is acting pronominally, it can be translated "where" in English.
({nuqDaq} is reserved for questions.)  You're right that {pa'} isn't the
object of a verb in these examples, but it is clearly being used as a
pronoun.  I couldn't find any examples of {naDev} used in this fashion, though.


Voragh

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