tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Jun 18 17:16:40 2000
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RE: klbc: abstract nouns
- From: "Sarah Andeen" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: klbc: abstract nouns
- Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2000 17:17:29 -0700
- Importance: Normal
jatlh lay'tel SIvten:
> I thought I asked this a couple weeks ago, but after not getting
> an answer after a while, I find that maybe it never got sent.
> The question is: How does one make abstract nouns in Klingon from
> adjectives or other nouns?
> I.e., redness < red
Good question. The easiest answer is this: usually one does not. If you want
to say "Visine removes redness from eyes", you would probably say <mInDu'
Doqbe'moH *Visine*>. In general, if you feel you *need* to make an abstract
noun out of a verb, you probably haven't thought long enough about waht
you're trying to say.
There are of course exceptions, and a common tool for these is <-ghach>.
<-ghach> basically turns a verb into a noun. Canon examples of <-ghach>
include <naDHa'ghach> - "discommendation", <naDqa'ghach> -
"re-commendation", and <quvHa'ghach> - "dishonor". <-ghach> should only be
used on verbs with another suffix; using <-ghach> on a bare verb stem is
considered "marked" usage - it sounds weird.
pagh
Beginners' Grammarian