tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Nov 18 12:13:24 2002
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Re: Klingon WOTD: qawmoH (v)
On Mon, 18 Nov 2002, Steven Boozer wrote:
> >This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Monday, November 18, 2002.
> >
> >Klingon word: qawmoH
> >Part of Speech: verb
> >Definition: remind
>
> As used in canon, describing {Ha'quj'e' tuQbogh wo'rIv} "the sash that Worf
> wears":
>
> tuQtaHvIS Hem. ghaHvaD quHDaj qawmoH.
> He wears it proudly as a reminder of his heritage. S20
Whoa, did anyone catch this application of direct object/indirect object
with qawmoH? I just saw this in the thread on Complex Sentences, using
this exact example:
DloraH said in response to the use of "'e' muqawloH":
>/'e' mu-/ in a regular sentence could be explained as the prefix trick.
>
>But, as for transitives with -moH... Sure, there may be a way of handling
>such constructions, but we don't know for sure yet. I usually recast to
>two sentences.
>
>muqawmoH. qan ghojmoHwI' 'e' vIqaw.
So while qawmoH is a a verb for "remind", it is obviously constructed from
the intransitive verb { qaw } with the causal suffix { -moH }. What's
interesting, though, is that the English transitive verb "remind" (which
is listed specifically as a definition of { qawmoH } would take the object
as that which is being reminded; the reason is treated as a prepositional
phrase.
Here, however, we see more of the application of { qaw } with the usual
application of { -moH }, where the usual subject of the verb is now
treated as the object, to reflect the causal relation. { qaw quHDaj }
"His heritage is remembered" { quHDaj qawmoH 'oH } "It causes his heritage
to be remembered" { ghaHvaD quHDaj qawmoH } "It causes his heritage to be
remembered for him/It reminds him of his heritage".
Would the grammarians agree with me on this one? It looks like if people
treat { qawmoH } literally as the transitive "remind", you wouldn't end up
with the proper objects and indirect objects. As in the example above,
you'd be more like to run into constructions that use the "prefix trick"
when it looks like it's actually more appropriate to say something like
{ jIHvaD 'e' yIqawmoH } for "Remind me of <that previous sentence>" no?
...Paul
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