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'