tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Dec 18 03:10:47 2002

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Re: KLBC



ghItlh ngabwI':
>I hope I got that subject line right this time.
qarbej.

>   {'oy' Qay'wI'wIj}
>    "My pinkie hurts" ?

Toes (and fingers) are explained in HolQeD 10:2 (Juni 2001)
The "pinkie" is the little finger, in Klingon {qanwI'}. To point your pinky at someone is an idiomatic gesture to 
comment that you believe that this one is old.

>    This sounds like an idiom. "I am insulted" ? Perhaps, "My feelings are 
From the article:
<<<
...the idiomatic expression {'oy'qu' Qay'wI'wIj}, literally "my little toe aches a lot", ... means "I'm extremely angry."
>>>

>02/02), but I would like a confirmation, and location in canon, if possible 
Perhaps someone can post the article from HolQeD... *hint* ;-)

>Back to the {tlhob}/{ghel} thing. While listed as verbs, can either of these 
>be used as a noun? 
No, in general, verbs cannot be used as nouns.
It happens very frequently that a verb sounds like the noun, but that's not always the case.
(just as in english "work" can be a verb and a noun, {vum} is only a verb. In Klingon, {Hegh}can be a verb and a 
noun, in english there are two words "death" and "die".)

>Or can {yu'} be used as a noun?
No. Do you want to say "I have a question"? Say "I want to ask you."
"I have two questions" --> "I want to ask you twice."
Through the time I've noticed that klingon is very much based on verbs, and less nouns.

>And while we're at it, can {-ghach} be used to nominalize ANY verb? Or just 
>ones that have suffices and no noun counterpart?
Correct.
We have only seen it used on verbs with a suffix. And why would one set up a complicated nominalized word if 
there already exists one?

>How does one say "How does one say 'x' in Klingon" ?
I don't know.
I usually rephrase that into s.th. like "How is this translated?", or "which word do klingons use for..."

>Finally, I would like to ask a possibly embarrassing question involving the 
>verb {nga'chuq} (tastefully phrased, of course), but I do not wish to 
>violate any content rules. It involves whether or not one could attach 
>another Type 1 verb suffix to the root, and would it mean what I think it 
>would mean? 
You ask for *nga'chuq'egh*? This seems to violate the rules. 
We don't know for sure what the word *nga'* could mean, but maybe' *nga''egh* could mean what you think it 
would mean? (someone has talked about this lately on the list, but I don't remember the topic)

>I think that's it for now. Sorry for the long post
qay'be'.

Quvar
Beginners' Grammarian
  ghojwI'pu'wI' vISaH




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