tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Dec 04 09:49:06 2007

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qorDu'wIj? (was Re: Basic grammar question)

Steven Boozer ([email protected])



At 11:27 PM Sunday 12/2/2007, naHQun wrote:
>Umm... everyone has been using <qorDu'wIj>, I would have used
><qorDu'wI'>, is that wrong because "a family" doesn't actually use
>language, the "members" do?

That seems to be exactly how it works.:  Individuals are "capable of using 
language", but collective groups are not (grammatically at least).

Although the only examples of {qorDu'} with a possessive suffix have the 
3rd person singular {-Daj} (used for both speaking and non-speaking nouns):

   vangDI' tlhIngan SuvwI' ngoy' qorDu'Daj; vangDI' qorDu'Daj
    ngoy' tlhIngan SuvwI'
   The family of a Klingon warrior is responsible for his actions,
    and he is responsible for theirs. TKW

   qorDu'Daj tuq 'oS Ha'quj'e' tuQbogh wo'rIv
   The sash that Worf wears is a symbol of his family's house. S20

we do have a clear example of {tuq} "tribe, house, ancestral unit, lineage" 
with {-lIj} (not {-lI'}):

   pInaDqu' tuqlIj wInaDqu' je
   Glory to you and your house.
   ("We praise you highly; we also praise your house highly") KGT

>And being half-asleep, I may have missed this, but what's wrong with:
>
>   leng qorDu'wIj
>
>Does it have to have a prefix? Isn't it obvious who's doing the traveling?
>Or does that only work in clipped Klingon? (or even then?)

"my family travels"

There's nothing wrong with it.  I think everyone would agree it's 
absolutely correct.

The question we're debating is whether ?{maleng qorDu'} or even ?{maleng 
qorDu'wIj} are possible.  (Personally, I think the first is allowed but not 
the second.)




--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons






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