[105] in tlhIngan-Hol
Re: adjectives->verbs
dcctdw@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (dcctdw@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Sun Feb 16 15:23:23 1992
Errors-To: tlhIngan-Hol-request@village.boston.ma.us
Reply-To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
From: gt5878b@cad.gatech.edu (Charles Edward Maise)
To: "Klingon Language List" <tlhIngan-Hol@village.boston.ma.us>
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 92 2:14:58 EST
In-Reply-To: <9201070641.AA09873@binkley.MIT.EDU>; from "mosquito@Athena.MIT.ED
Kevin Iga ponders whether non-adjectival verbs can be used in the way
that adjectival verbs can:
> Adjectival verbs can modify nouns as follows:
>
> Duj tIn vIneH.
> I want the big ship.
>
> If there is no difference, we can examine the use of adjectives to modify
> nouns and ask if the same can be done with normal verbs:
>
> HoD 'oHpu' loD Hegh'e'
> The dead man was a captain.
>
> loD tlhIngan Hol jatlh vIlegh.
> I see the man speaking Klingon
> (of course, this could be done with -bogh, as well.)
>
> loD DaqIpta' vIlegh.
> I see the man you hit.
> (same comment about -bogh. Not quite following the pattern of adjectival verb
s,
> though, since "loD" is the object, not the subject, of "qIp".)
>
> Any ideas?
I think this inference is a mistake. "loD Hegh'e'" is not really "dead man."
If we had a word for "be dead," then you could say "dead man" as you would
expect. However, this sentence, as the other two, could (and should) be
constructed using -bogh. In this case:
HoD 'oHpu' Heghpu'bogh loD.
The man who died was a captain.
In all the examples Kevin gave, the verb "modifying" the noun is actually
forming a relative clause which modifies the noun. "I see the man who is
speaking Klingon," "I see the man whom you hit." Just because when speaking
English colloquially we often leave out the relative clause markers doesn't
change the nature of the sentence; it's still a relative clause modifying
the noun. In Klingon, relative clauses are marked by -bogh.
...with one exception. "Adjectival" verbs don't take -bogh. "Duj SuD"
(green ship) is literally "ship be-green", or "ship which is green."
That's a relative clause, with no marker.
The dictionary is pretty clear that there is a difference between adjectival
verbs and other verbs. Section 4.4 states "A verb expressing a state or
quality can be used immediately following a noun to modify that noun."
By implication, verbs that express an action, such as "hit" or "die" cannot
be used in such a fashion. The remaining alternative is to construct a
relative clause using -bogh.
Eddie Maise gt5878b@cad.gatech.edu
"tlhutlh, tlhutlh, tlhutlh, tlhutlh,
tlhutlhpu', tlhutlhpu', tlhutlhpu', tlhutlhpu',
chech, chech, chech..."
