tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Feb 16 21:09:24 1999
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Re: clothing
ja' muHwI':
>What we have:
>{tuQ} "wear (clothes)"
>{tuQmoH} "put on (clothes)"
>{tuQHa'moH} "undress"
The existence of both {tuQ} and {tuQmoH} confused me greatly until we
got another example of a transitive verb with {-moH} on it. From the
Skybox S20 card {Ha'quj} "Klingon Sash":
...tuQtaHvIS Hem. ghaHvaD quHDaj qawmoH.
"...He wears it proudly as a reminder of his heritage."
Here, {qawmoH} has the same sort of object as {qaw} would, and the
one actually remembering -- the "object of causation" -- is marked
with {-vaD} as the beneficiary of the verb.
The parenthetical "clothes" on {tuQ} and {tuQmoH} tells me that they
both have the thing being worn as the usual object. The {-moH} on
{tuQmoH} says that "put on" means the same thing as "cause to wear",
or "put (clothes) on [someone else]". {tuQHa'moH} "undress" seems to
refer to taking clothes off someone else. For disrobing oneself, I'd
say simply {tuQHa'} -- or, even more simply, {teq} "remove, take off".
>So I'd say {jItuQ} for "I'm not naked"; {jItuQmoH} "I'm getting dressed" and
>{jItuQHa'moH} "I'm getting naked, I'm undressing" (very loose translations).
{jItuQmoH} means to me "I dress [someone else]." Perhaps I help my
son button his shirt and tie his shoes. {jItuQHa'moH} is obviously
"I undress [someone else]."
>How do I say "put on s.th.", like "Put your shoes on!"
Easy: {waqlIj tItuQchoH} "Begin to wear your shoes."
>{waqmeylIj tItuQmoH} sounds pretty silly, because it gives me the funny
>picture of a pair of shoes wearing pants and a shirt :-)
>Is there a way to recast that??
No need to recast. Just recognize that the {-moH} suffix makes the
verb talk about *causing* someone to wear (or remove) clothes.
-- ghunchu'wI'