[86540] in tlhIngan-Hol
RE: use of DIng
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Steven Boozer)
Fri Sep 18 11:38:38 2009
From: Steven Boozer <sboozer@uchicago.edu>
To: "'tlhingan-hol@kli.org'" <tlhingan-hol@kli.org>
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:36:56 -0500
In-Reply-To: <559302.49595.qm@web82607.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Errors-to: tlhingan-hol-bounce@kli.org
Reply-to: tlhingan-hol@kli.org
lay'tel SIvten:
>>>I couldn't find any canon for it. Since merely adding {-moH}
>>>would make it the transitive version, I hope it's the intran-
>>>sitive meaning. If it's the transitive meaning already, then
>>>it's a lot harder to get the intransitive meaning.
Voragh:
>> There's no canon for {Ding} "spin" - or {tlhe'} "turn"
>> either. Like lay'SIv, I imagine they both work like
>> {jIr} "rotate, twirl" vs. {jIrmoH} "twirl X, cause X to
>> rotate". (The context in KGT p.59-60 was specifically
>> about bat'leth movements, but I imagine {jIrmoH} can be used
>> for other things as well.)
ter'eS:
>I'm tending to think you are right on philosophical grounds: since
>Klingons prefer action, they probably prefer to be the actor rather than
>the one acted upon, so the simple stem of most verbs would describe the
>subject as performing (or experiencing) the verb (the intransitive
>usage), with {-moH} available for when you want to refer to the agency
>that causes them to undergo the verb (transitive). By that reasoning, for
>verbs we have no canon for that can go either way in English, my default
>assumption would be that they are intransitive in Klingon.
I agree. It's efficient, it takes advantage of the {-moH} (cause) suffix and it works. It may not be right for every specific verb, of course, but we have no way of knowing without any context or further information from Okrand.
>If my memory wasn't so bad, I'd cite some examples!
Some more movement-type examples:
DoH back away from, back off, get away from
DoHmoH drive back
laq flap (intransitive)
laqmoH flap (transitive)
Maltz pointed out that, in flight, a bird's wings {laq} (the bird
is said to {laqmoH} its wings)... (HQ 10.4)
pum fall
pummoH knock down
ron roll (i.e. aircraft)
ronmoH bank, cause to roll
--
Voragh
Canon Master of the Klingons
