tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Apr 20 21:13:42 2006

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Re: qep'a' (was Re: On a more humerous note)

Shane MiQogh ([email protected])



QeS 'utlh <[email protected]> wrote:  ghItlhpu' Shane MiQogh, ja':
>A source i failed to check said that "nga'chuq" ment "sex".
HolQeD 1:3 is the source of the word. It's doubtful you have that issue. 
{{:) {nga'chuq} is listed on the KLI's New Words List. You really should 
print that list out; there are a stack of useful words on it.

>I should recheck the source. lol

What follows is opinion, so you don't *have* to follow it, but I believe 
this is the most sensible interpretation of {nga'chuq}.

I think that {nga'chuq} "to have sex" is actually composed of two parts: the 
type 1 verb suffix {-chuq} and an otherwise unattested verbal root *{nga'} 
"to have sex with, to mate with", which is related to the verb {ngagh} "to 
mate with" (found in TKD). So {nga'chuq} literally means "(they) have sex 
with each other". (If this is in fact the case, you must use a no-object 
verbal prefix on the verb: {manga'chuq} "we have sex (with each other)", 
{Sunga'chuq} "you have sex (with each other)". Klingon grammar forbids the 
formation {munga'chuq}.) HolQeD 1:3 glosses {nga'chuq} as "sex (i.e., 
perform sex; always subject)"; to me, this says that all parties having sex 
would collectively be the subject of this verb, which would be logical if 
{nga'chuq} were, in fact, *{nga'} + {-chuq}.

Now, to me, {nga'chuq} implies consent, a mutual (if you'll excuse the pun) 
conjugation that both parties are actively engaging with (as evidenced by 
the suffix {-chuq} "(do to) each other"). However, I understand {ngagh}, 
TKD's verb for "to mate with", as implying agency on the part of only one 
person (the mater, not the one mated with). Thus {mungagh} "he/she/it mates 
with me" would be more appropriate for the sense you intended, since you 
would not be the one who is actively engaging in the act.

I suspect that {ngagh} and *{nga'-} used to be the same verb (which one was 
the original form is, of course, up for debate), and that {nga'chuq} is 
nothing more than an irregularity in the conjugation of the verb {ngagh}.



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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I still don't understand why mu- would be wrong... The subject would be they/them and i would be the object. So i don't understand why mu- would be wrong...
		
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