tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jan 05 20:45:02 2000
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: KLBC : A somewhat advanced translation...
juDmoS the Inquisitive inquired:
: When the verb qIj (be black) is used adjectively
: here, the locative suffix -Daq is attached to the adjective, rather than
the
: noun. Why exactly is this ? It would seem to be more correct to say they
are
: *in* the *fleet*, which just happens to be *black*... but the locative is
: attached to the *black* and not the *fleet* It's a noun suffix attached
to a
: verb being used adjectively. [snip] Why isn't it 'ejyo'Daq qIj ?
For the same reason it's "in the Black Fleet" and not "in the Fleet Black"
in English. <g> But seriously, it's just the way qualities in Klingon - and
adjectives in English - work. If you want, you can say the slightly more
cumbersome "in the fleet which is black" as, indeed, you can in Klingon:
{qIjbogh yo'Daq}.
: But, as previously noted, it's canon. Is there a rule I missed somewhere
: that says the locative suffix is attached to the end of a noun *clause*,
: vice to the noun itself ?
If you want chapter and verse for the rule pagh refers to, see TKD section
4.4 "Adjectives" (p.50):
If a Type 5 noun suffix is used (section 3.3.5), it follows the
verb, which, when used to modify the noun in this way, can have
no other suffix except the rover {-qu'} 'emphatic'. the Type 5
noun suffix follows {-qu'}.
{veng tInDaq} "in the big city"
{veng tInqu'Daq} "in the very big city"
A better question would be *why* did Okrand create this rule? Did he have
some other language in mind, perhaps one of the California Amerindian
languages he studied in graduate school? Did he just want to add a piece
of unusual, or unpredictable, syntax to what is still a very regular,
predictable grammar - perhaps overly regular, like too many artificial
languages. Or was he just felling a bit contrary that day?
: Why isn't it 'ejyo'Daq qIj?
Once again, the Klingon word for "fleet" is just {yo'}, not {'ejyo'} which
means "Starfleet" specifically. (Cf. TKD p.20 for a discussion of
{'ejyo'}.) I think you've got John Ford's "naked stars" stuck in your mind.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons