tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Aug 13 09:51:55 2002
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Re: -ghach
Quvar asks:
>Is there any canon for "ghached" words, besides of
> {quvHa'ghach} "dishonor"
> {lo'laHghach} "value"
> {naDHa'ghach} "discommendation."
In addition to the three you quoted, we also know of {lo'laHbe'ghach}
"worthlessness" and {naDqa'ghach} "re-commendation", both from TKD.
Here's what I have in my notes on {-ghach}:
In Klingon, there are many instances of nouns and verbs being
identical in form... It is not known if all verbs can be used
as nouns, but it is known that verbs ending in suffixes (such
as {-Ha'} "undo" in {lobHa'} "disobey") can never be nouns. The
Type 9 suffix {-ghach}, however, can be attached to such verbs
in order to form nouns. (TKD 176)
Okrand expanded on this a bit in HolQeD 3.3, where he says (in part):
So {-ghach} means something like condition of being X, if X is
stative. Or action or process involved with, or maybe result of
the action, but the process involved with Y where Y is, for the
lack of a better term, an active verb.
Okrand provided a few more examples of properly "ghach'ed" nouns:
{belpu'ghach} "having been pleased"
{nobpu'ghach} "a given (a finished case of giving)"
{nobtaHghach} "ongoing giving"
{quvmoHghach} "process of honoring"
{tlhutlhtaHghach} "ongoing drinking"
He then gave a few examples of what he called "marked" (i.e. incorrectly
"ghach'ed") nouns:
(belghach} "pleasureness"
{nobghach} "givation, one-time donation"
{quvghach} "honoredness".
Note the absence of a verb suffix between the stem and {-ghach} and the
"marked" English translation showing that these are irregularly formed, but
more-or-less understandable.
For more information, see Okrand's article in HolQeD 3.3 in full. (Back
issues may still be available from the KLI.)
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons