tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed May 02 10:51:54 2001

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RE: KLBC: Grammer questions


> Qov:
> > Is Melody Jeffcoat just a different e-mail address of Paul McIntosh, or
> are
> > you different people?  Whoever you are, the sentences weren't a bad
> match
> > for you.  You have a good command of question grammar in Klingon, yet
> this
> > exercise uncovered a few important points of grammar you need to learn.
> 
yeygha':

> "Paul McIntosh" jIHbe'.
> 
Qov had sent the list of practice sentences for qonwI' (whose email account
is under Paul McIntosh). I'll add some comments here for you, but if qonwI'
is reading, he should try translating Qov's sentences first, before reading
your attempts. No cheating :-)


> > >>  Why are there many sticky things under my bed?
> > >
> > >qatlh QongwIjDaq bIngDaq chaH Dochmey'e' Hum law'?
> >
> > Rather than correcting this, I will give you the three tools you need to
> > correct it.
> >
> > 2. See TKD 3.4, particularly the last example for how to use -Daq with a
> > noun-noun construction.
> 
> I was unsure while I was writing this: I knew that the locative suffix
> follows the second noun, hence {bIngDaq}.  My problem was that the only
> word for bed that I know is {QongDaq} (if there is another word out there,
> that would solve the problem :) ) So do I treat {QongDaq} as a basic noun
> and add {-wIj} to the end of it, or do I put {-wIj} before {-Daq} so that
> suffixes will be in the proper order? I suppose the {-Daq} of {QongDaq}
> might have nothing to do with the noun suffix {-Daq}, since {Qong} is a
> verb.
> 
You're correct here - {QongDaq} is actually one word, and not the word
{Qong} and suffix {-Daq}. Since {Qong} is only a verb, we can't use it like
a noun. So you should use {QongDaq} as a single noun.
This also means that we can translate the phrase "in/on/at the bed" by
combining the noun {QongDaq} and the noun suffix {-Daq}, to get
{QongDaqDaq}.


> > 3. Consider a way the type 9 verb suffix -wI' can make your sentence
> more
> > concise.
> 
> I don't know what you mean here...
> 
The verb suffix {-wI'} can be added to a verb, similar to "-er" in English.
For example, {Suv} is the verb "fight". If we add the verb suffix {-wI'}, it
becomes the noun {SuvwI'}, which means "fighter" or "one that fights".
We can also use this on verbs that describe a state or condition. For
example, {yoH} is the verb "be brave". {yoHwI'} therefore would be someone
or something that is brave.


Qov:
> > >>  I won't be present when the shuttle arrives, because I'm going to
> Earth in
> > >> the  morning.
> > >
> 
yeygha':
> > >jISaHbe' pqwDI' lupDujHom, poDaq tera' vIjaHmo'
> >
> 
Qov:
> > 3. As far as I know, jaH does not act like ghoS.  Its direct object is
> not
> > the destination.  I may be wrong here, because there was some new
> > information about verbs of motion revealed at a time when I was not very
> > active in the language.   watch to see if I am corrected on this point.
> 
yeygha':
> I don't know either. I was basing that on something taD said:
> 
> 
In HolQeD Volume 7, #4, the interview with Marc Okrand clarifies the word
{jaH} on page 8. 
You can use {jaH} without a direct object:
{jIjaH} "I go (somewhere)."

You can use {jaH} with a location. If the verb prefix indicates "no object"
(such as {jI-}, {bI-}, or {Su-}), then this location is where the entire
action takes place:
{tera'Daq jIjaH} "On Earth, I go (somewhere)."

You can also change the prefix, so that the location is the object of the
verb {jaH}. In this case, the object is what you are going to:
{tera' vIjaH} "I go to Earth."
We can also say {tera'Daq vIjaH} to mean "I go to Earth".


- taD
-----------------
AIM: Tad Stauffer
ICQ #:    7622618

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