tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Apr 13 20:24:51 2006

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Re: mangpu' or negh?

Shane MiQogh ([email protected]) 

Exactly, we don't have a need for it, but it's still correct... Fact is, just because we don't need it, dosn't mean it's incorrect, or alot of synonyms wouldn't exist.
   
  well, the boat that's "on" the water, is also partially under (the bottom). Therefor, i'd consider it within the water because it's under and over the water.
   
  Well, i think -'a' and -Hom and others are just like usage of verbs... Multiple meanings, like jIQong (i sleep) or (i am asleep) though jIQongtaH (means i am sleeping). I beleive that this is how it is, and only context can tell what the suffix means.
   
  be''a' be'nal.
  (My wife is a <be''a'>.)
   
  Naturally, this could mean many things, but one would imagin it would mean something positive since you are *SUPPOSED TO* talk nicely about your wife. So, that rules out big, and as long as the one speaking is not an old geezer, we can easily assume it dosn't mean old. This would be most likely how a Klingon would understand it, because they seem to be more civilized than us. Yes we have more rules for being civilized, but they seem to follow their rules and sin much less than we do. Therefor, this insinuates that she is an "awsome" girl, but there is most likely another way to say this, but  this is one example of how we can come to the conclusion of any usage.
  
QeS 'utlh <[email protected]> wrote:
  ghItlhpu' Shane MiQogh, ja':
>I don't see how they're improper english, just cultur taboos...

They're not culturally taboo. They're just not good English. Like I 
demonstrated, "dis-" usually has a certain sense to it that just doesn't 
work with some verbs. Which verbs is, of course, a matter of opinion, but I 
do think that no-one would ever use the word "disexist".

>one day i had the idea for a Supermarine instead of sub marine,
>theoretically it'd be a flying boat,

The thing is that there's no need for a word "supermarine". There's no craft 
that could only fly above the water, but not above the land, too. Why not 
just call it an aircraft? Oh wait... we already do. {{:) "Submarine" was 
originally an adjective, and it still is. Its noun usage has only come about 
by extension of that adjective usage. I would say that a normal boat would 
be a "supermarine" - because, after all, it's *on* the ocean, not *in* it. 
And since we have a word for "boat" already, the need for a word 
"supermarine" is minimal.

>Usually takes people 5 minutes to figure out (since super is an
>almost completely unused prefix if used at all, anymore.)

I think the problem is not that "super-" is a rare prefix, but that your 
sense of the word "supermarine" can only be worked out by reference to the 
opposite word, which is "submarine". And anyway, as I've said already, I 
would interpret "supermarine" as being just a normal boat, as it's over/on 
the ocean rather than under it.

Anyway, getting back to the point, the idea is that it's dangerous to say 
that any Klingon suffix can be used with any Klingon word, and even if 
they're grammatical, that doesn't mean they're going to make sense, or even 
be interpreted the way you want them to be. Noam Chomsky's grammatical, yet 
nonsensical sentence "colourless green ideas sleep furiously" springs 
quickly to mind.

QeS 'utlh
tlhIngan Hol yejHaD pabpo' / Grammarian of the Klingon Language Institute


not nItoj Hemey ngo' juppu' ngo' je
(Old roads and old friends will never deceive you)
- Ubykh Hol vIttlhegh

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