tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Sep 01 13:00:58 2003

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Delbogh mu' pojtaH

...Paul ([email protected]) [KLI Member] 

On 1 Sep 2003 [email protected] wrote:
> This is the Klingon Word Of The Day for Monday, September 1, 2003.
> Klingon word:   vuQ
> Part of Speech: verb
> Definition:     fascinate

Here's an interesting English word that appears as a verb ("Language
fascinates me") almost as much as it appears as an adjective ("The
fascinating world of language").  In tlhIngan Hol, though, we realy only
ever have verbs, though some, it would seem, may be used in a special
construction that mimicks the English form of an adjective.

In English, the base word is the verb 'fascinate'.  By adding the
appropriate -ing suffix, we get a form that is an adjective.  Is there a
similar pattern in tlhIngan Hol?  A quick run through all the suffixes
available to verbs quickly brings up no easy analog to the English suffix
pattern.  Indeed, I wouldn't expect there to be one, since tlhIngan Hol
already distinguishes itself from English by doing away with the adjective
form in the first place.

But we do, in Klingon, have both a grammatical rule for an adjectival
construct, Section 4.4.  However, this limits our verb use to only those
verbs which are "expressing a state or quality," which is generally
sufficient for our lexicon, which tends to translate such verbs as "be
<something>" -- a decent marker for our purposes.

We also have rules for changing verbs into nouns.  The verb suffix -wI' is
effectively the equivalent to the English suffixes "-or" and "-er".  The
suffix -ghach was also introduced and gives us another parallel in the
verb-to-noun transformation, equivalent to the English "-ation" and
"-ment" (and probably a few others).

So is there a common way to be able to use verbs that are not otherwise
candidates for adjectival use (most often, transitives) in adjectival
ways?  The -bogh suffix is a tempting, simple option, as it is designed to
modify nouns.  If I wanted to say, "I'm studying the fascinating new
language", would /vuQbogh Hol chu' vIHaD/ be correct?  Is it sufficient?

/vuQbogh/ "which fascinates none/he/she/it/them" might be sufficient.
Perhaps, though, it is not sufficient to say that this is a good pattern.
If you as the listener had no interest in the language, the presumption
that the /Hol chu'/ might /vuQ/ you may be against the Klingon code.

Perhaps in tlhIngan Hol, one must be wary of such assumptions.  There are
several verb suffixes that could be used to admit to such assumptions.
The suffixes I'm thinking of are -laH and -law':

/vuQlaHbogh Hol chu' vIHaD/ "I'm studying the new language that could
fascinate."
/vuQlaw'bogh Hol chu' vIHaD/ "I'm studying the new language that
apparently fascinates."

Perhaps more importantly, paying attention to prefixes on the relative
clause is the way to speak more accurately:

/muvuQbogh Hol chu' vIHaD/ "I'm studying the new language that fascinates
me."

So for /vuQ/, I think we have a winner.  By limiting the assumption made
when indicating that something is fascinating or can fascinate, we develop
a construct that allows us to use the verb in something of an adjectival
form, but with actually more explicit context than the English form.

But can this be made into a pattern?  We would need to examine some other
verbs.  A random flip through the TKD and my finger lands on /jolvoy'/ --
not a verb, but the next one down is /jon/ "capture".  How might this verb
be used in an adjectival form in English?  Perhaps we might want to say
"The capturing crew can keep the ship"

/Duj pollaH lujonta'bogh beqpu'/

I think we have a winner -- and simultaneously, a loser.  I think we have
a winner in that I believe -bogh can probably be used in almost all cases
where we want to translate "the <verb>ing foo".  But at the same time, the
pattern is not consistent.  Based on how the form is used, the verb prefix
may have to change, additional verb suffixes may have to be added.  The
English accomplishes most of this through context, but the Klingon must be
a little more specific.  Perhaps one of the few places in the language
where English actually takes more from context than Klingon.

Comments?  Suggestions?  Things I missed?

...Paul

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