tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Aug 27 10:57:54 2002
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Re: Can anyone answer my question?
Voragh:
> > logh veQDaq bachchugh, yoH 'e' toblaHbe' SuvwI'.
> > Shooting space garbage is no test of a warrior's mettle.
> > ("If he shoots at space garbage, a warrior cannot prove [test
> > conclusively] that he is brave.)
> >
> >BTW, this indicates that what you're shooting at is marked with
> >{-Daq}. I.e. one "shoots at" a target or {DoSDaq bach}.
Quvar:
>It also indicates that "When the noun-noun construction is used, only the
>second noun can take syntactic suffixes": {logh veQDaq}
True, if {logh veQ} is a noun-noun construction: "space garbage" (as
opposed to other kinds of garbage). But note that you can also say:
loghDaq veQDaq bachchugh yoH 'e' toblaHbe' SuvwI'.
In space, if he shoots at garbage a warrior cannot prove that he is brave.
Here we're talking about garbage in general (for example, the trash in the
ship's mess hall).
> > pe'vIl mu'qaDmey tIbach
> >shows that what is shot - i.e. the projectile - is the direct object of
> {bach}.
>
>shortly:
>{bach} can be used transitively, its object is what is being shot, and its
>target takes the locative suffix {-Daq}. like this?
>
>maHDaq cha lubachDI' romuluSnganpu' DujchajDaq mabachchoH.
>"as soon as the rommies shoot the torpedoes at us, we start firing at
>their ship"
Correct. It sounds a bit odd with {maHDaq} to me, but it's perfectly
grammatical. This would be a good place to use the "prefix trick":
cha nubachDI' romuluSnganpu', DujchajDaq mabachchoH.
This works because it's unlikely the Romulans will be using us as the
projectile!
>verenganDaq QImmey vIbach
>"I shoot eggs at the ferengi."
Correct, though I might have used {jaD} "throw around, hurl about". Okrand
specifically associates this verb with food:
Note that {Soj woD} ("He/she throws the food away"), which refers to a
regrettable activity, is very different from {Soj jaD" ("He/she throws
or hurls the food in the manner of a projectile"), which, under certain
circumstances, is considered a reasonable pastime." (KGT 91)
From this, it appears that {jaD} works like {bach}:
verenganDaq QImmey vIjaD
I throw eggs at the Ferengi.
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons