tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Mar 22 17:43:35 1999

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{-bogh} (was Re: vavwI')



ja' quljIb:
>I don't know why, but {-bogh} phrases frequently confuse me.

{-bogh} phrases are called "relative clauses". They are basically sentences
with the type 9 verb suffix {-bogh} attached.  As such, the object of the
phrase must come before the verb, and the subject must come after it.

  {Dargh vItlhutlhbogh} "tea which I drink"
  {mughungmoHbogh chab} "dumpling which makes me hungry"

When there is only one explicit noun, that noun is the "head noun" of the
phrase.  The head noun is the word having a role in the larger sentence,
and the rest of the relative clause serves to describe or specify it.

  {Dargh vIthlutlhbogh lIch jabwI'}
  "The waiter pours the tea which I drink."

  {chorwIj tujmoH Dargh vItlhutlhbogh}
  "The tea which I drink warms my belly."

  {mughungmoHbogh chab Davutta'}
  "You have cooked the dumpling which makes me hungry."

  {chenHa'lI' mughungmoHbogh chab}
  "The dumpling which makes me hungry is falling apart."

When there is both an explicit object and subject in the relative clause,
one is permitted to use the type 5 noun suffix {-'e'} to indicate which
is the head noun.  But it's perfectly grammatical to leave it ambiguous.

  {yaS leghbogh puq}
  "child who sees the officer" or "officer whom the child sees"

  {megh Sopbogh negh}
  "soldiers who eat lunch" or "lunch which is eaten by soldiers"

  {megh'e' Sopbogh negh} "lunch which is eaten by soldiers"
  {megh Sopbogh negh'e'} "soldiers who eat lunch"

I hope that helps.

-- ghunchu'wI'




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