tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Feb 25 09:32:57 1999
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RE: KLBC: double -bogh verbs
T'Lod:
: I have seen an example of two verbs suffixed with -bogh, connected
: with je at the end, most notably in the Klingon Anthem: yoHbogh
: matlhbogh je SuvwI'. Could someone explain this usage to me and
: how a noun conjunction is used with verb clauses?
pagh:
> Simple - it's not. This example comes from a song, and is a good
> example of Okrand taking poetic license. Poetry and song lyrics
> often break grammatical conventions to achieve some other aesthetic
> objective, and that's what's going on here. I believe (although I
> am not sure) that Okrand himself has said that this is not grammatical,
> and was done solely to sound good in the song. The normal way to
> combine multiple <-bogh> clauses is with <'ej>.
T'Lod:
: So if this were a proper Klingon phrase, it would be yoHbogh 'ej
: matlhbogh SuvwI', qar'a'?
pagh:
> In general, when a subject is repeated between two different
> sentences/clauses, it's better to state it in the *first* one and leave it
> out in the second. This is a bit hard to get used to, but it is important.
> <yoHbogh SuvwI' 'ej matlhbogh>
De gustibus non disputandum est, of course, but this is merely pagh's own
stylistic preference. We've seen Okrand do it both ways:
romuluSngan Sambogh 'ej HoHbogh nejwI'
Romulan hunter-killer probe
(this device is also called a {HoHwI'} for short) KCD
SuDbogh Dargh 'ej wovbogh
The tea that is {SuD} and light. KGT
which last is a variant of:
SuD Dargh 'ej wov. KGT
The tea is {SuD} and light.
both meaning roughly "light green tea".
(Don't you hate it when I do this?)
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons