tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jan 11 14:07:25 2000

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Re: Online Grammar Point

On Tue, 11 Jan 2000 05:51:26 -0600 Daniel W Morse 
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Here is the next easy grammar point:
> 
> To change a statement into a question, Klingon adds the suffix -'a' to
> the verb.  If the verb has other suffixes, the suffix -'a' must be the
> last one.

To be a bit more accurate, to change a statement into a "yes/no" 
question, Klingon adds either the suffix {-'a'} to the verb or 
adds the word {qar'a'?} to the end of the sentence. There is 
probably a higher expectation of a "yes" answer to a question 
ending in {qar'a'?}, but this is not certain.

There are other kinds of questions than "yes/no" questions and 
these are handled with a different set of question words (likely 
addressed later).
 
> In more advanced terms, Klingon has 9 suffix types, which must be
> affixed to a verb in numerical order, with holes in the order being
> allowed.  -'a' is a type 9 suffix.

Note that you can only add one Type 9 suffix to any verb.
 
> betleH ghaj'a' yaS?  Does the officer have a bat'leth?
> betleH yan'a' puq?  Does the child wield a bat'leth?

Note that Federation spellings for {betleH} vary widely. Okrand 
lists {betleH} as "type of hand weapon" and avoids spelling it 
entirely, though for {betleH bey'} he spells it "Bat'telh". 
None of these spellings with the apostrophe between two "t"s can 
be pronounced as written. This is why, even when speaking 
English, I use {betleH}.

> paq je'be''a' loD?  Does the man not buy a book?  (Note:  the answer
> could be "Yes, he does not buy a book.")
> veng ghoS'a' be'?  Does the woman go to the city?
> 
> loD = man, male (noun)
> be' = woman, female (noun)
> HIja' = yes (exclamation)
> ghobe' = no (exclamation)
> ghoS = approaches, goes, goes to, goes toward (verb)
> veng = city (noun)
 
charghwI'

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