tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Feb 11 14:06:06 2003
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Re: the "prefix trick"
Okrand (via Voragh):
> > For example, someone undergoing the Rite of Ascension says {tIqwIj
> Sa'angnIS} "I
> > must show you [plural] my heart". The pronominal prefix in this phrase
> is {Sa-},
> > which means "I [do something to] all of you" ... but when there's
> already an
> > object (in this case, {tIqwIj} "my heart"), the 'object' of the prefix is
> > interpreted as the indirect object, so {Sa-} means "I [do something to]
> it for
> > you" or the like. (st.klingon 6/97)
ngabwI':
>It is interesting that this subject should come up. I just got a copy of PK,
>and in it I heard, more than once, this very construction used with
>{nob}(to give)
>Ex.
>ro'qegh 'Iw chab HInob
>Give me the rokeg blood pie
{ro'qegh'Iwchab} is one word. Go figure.
>This is the only example I can think of right now, but I know it occurs at
>least 3 times on side one alone. So we know this type can work on {nob} and
>{'ang}, but was Okrand presenting a general rule, or was this type of
>construction specific to {'ang} and {nob}
It's a general rule. IIRC Okrand explained it on the startrek.klingon
mailing list after some of us noticed it in a couple of his published
sentenced. We wondered whether it was a mistake, but it turned out that we
had discovered an "undocumented feature" of the language.
This is what we've come to call the "prefix trick" and is described by Eric
Andeen in the FAQ:
http://higbee.cots.net/~holtej/klingon/faq.htm#3.11
The "prefix trick" is a bit of Klingon grammar. If a verb has an indirect
object (IO) that is first or second person (me, you us) and a direct object
(DO) that is third person, then instead of using the usual {IO-vaD DO verb}
formation, the verb prefix can be changed to indicate the indirect
object. Examples:
SoHvaD matlh vIpong
"I call you Maltz" becomes {matlh qapong}
jIHvaD paq yInob
"Give me the book" becomes {paq HInob}
I'm not sure about his first example ({pong} "call, name" is a very odd
verb), but the second is kosher.
Teresh's page on "Klingon Grammar Addenda"
http://www.geocities.com/teresh_2000/kliadd4.html
also describes it:
The prefix trick: When a verb has a first or second person indirect object
(marked with -vaD), and a third-person object or no object, the indirect
object can be shown by using a verb prefix whose object is the appropriate
person: eg. SoHvaD paq vInob = paq qanob "I give you a book"; HInob "Give
it to me!"
Briefly, it's just an alternate way to use indirect objects. For
comparison, in English we can say either "Give me the book" or "Give the
book to me" with no difference in meaning, though perhaps a slight
difference in emphasis. Note that this only works in the 1st and 2nd
person (it doesn't work in the 3rd person because of all the ambiguous
"zero prefixes").
>and whatever other examples exist in canon?
I don't have my notes organized that way, but off the top of my head I can
think of:
vaghSaD DeQ HInob
Give me 5,000 credits! PK
ghIchwIj DabochmoHchugh ghIchlIj qanob
If you shine my nose, I will give you your nose. PK
cha'puj vIngevmeH chaw' HInobneS
Give me a permit to sell dilithium, your honor. PK
qablIj HI'ang
Show me your face! KGT
rolIj HI'ang
Show me your torso! KGT
ro'lIj HI'ang
Show me your fist! KGT
The "prefix trick" is probably used most often with {nob} and {'ang} due to
the nature of these common verbs.
>In short, can I say:
>
>{tlhonDu'lIj qangeHlaH. tISqu' ngaSwI'.}
>I can send you your nostrils. The container is very lightweight.
Correct. You can say either:
tlhonDu'lIj qangeHlaH.
I can send you your nostrils.
or
SoHvaD tlhonDu'lIj vIngeHlaH.
I can send your nostrils to you.
Because of its fairly rigid syntax Klingon doesn't allow for a lot of
stylistic variation, but this is one place where it's allowed.
--
Voragh "Damage control is easy. Reading Klingon
- that's
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons hard!" (Montgomery
Scott, STIV)