<< First Page
Examples:
wa'Hu' targh tIq vISop means Yesterday, I ate heart of targ;DaHjaj targh tIq vISop could read Today, I ate heart of targ, Today, I am eating heart of targ, Today, I'll be eating heart of targ;
wa'leS targh tIq vISop could read Tomorrow, I will eat heart of targ.
What Klingon does do is mark the aspect of the noun: whether the action is completed or not completed, whether the action is completed naturally or as a direct result of the subject's action; whether the action is continuous or whether it is in progress towards completion. This it does through verb suffixes.
Klingon verbs can take on up to nine different types of suffixes, rated Type 1 through to Type 9. Like noun suffixes, these must appear in a specific order: a Type 1 verb suffix always comes immediately after the verb, before any Type 2 or higher; if there is a Type 3 suffix but no Type 1 or 2, the Type 3 goes in right after the verb; only one verb suffix of each Type is allowed, so no more than one Type 1, one Type 2 and so on.
If a verb does not have an aspect marker, it means that the verb is not yet completed and not continuous. The default translation is in the present tense, though some contexts can also make it possible to refer to an action in the future tense depending on context:-
| tlhIngan Soj vISop | I am eating Klingon food/ I eat Klingon food/ I'll eat the Klingon food |
| jagh HoH be' | The woman is killing the enemy/ The woman will kill the enemy |
| tugh qaHoH | I will kill you soon |
Aspect marker suffixes are all of Type 7. The markers are -ta' accomplished, done; -pu' perfective; -taH continuous, and -lI' in progress.
This lesson focuses on the first one of these markers, -ta'.
This suffix indicates that the action of the verb is now completed, and that it was deliberately done or undertaken.
| tlhIngan Soj vISopta' | I ate the Klingon food |
| jagh HoHta' be' | The woman killed the enemy |
| qaHoHta' | I killed you |
In all cases, the subject deliberately did the action: eating the Klingon food, killing the enemy, killing you - all were actions which were deliberately carried out and completed.
As Type 7 verb suffixes, -ta' can be combined with other suffixes, notably -'a' and -be', both of which we have met before, and even -mo' because, due to. Make a note of the relative ordering - -ta' always comes before -mo' and -'a', but the placement of -be' can vary, with different meanings depending on where it is in the ordering of suffixes:-
| DIHoHta'be' | We did not kill them/ (we wanted to but somebody else did it first) |
| DaSuqta''a' | Did you acquire it? |
| boSujta'mo' | Because we disturbed them/ (deliberately so) |
| paq DaHaDta''a' | Have you finished studying the book? |
| nuHmey boqemta'mo' | Because you brought the weapons |
| nuHmey boqembe'ta'mo' | Because you did not bring the weapons/ (you were told to, but chose not to) |
| nuHmey boqemta'be'mo' | Because you have not yet brought the weapons/ (you have not yet arrived with the weapons) |
To summarise, when you've set out to do something, and you've done it and it's finished, you use the -ta' suffix to describe the completion of the task.
pItlh and rIntaH
There are two other ways you can express that you have completed some task: the exclamation pItlh and the word rIntaH.
| pItlh | Done!, Finished!,/ I have finished!, I'm done!,/ All done! and so on |
| rIntaH | It is done |
Examples of pItlh:-
| pItlh | I'm finished! |
| jabbI''ID pItlh | Transmission complete |
| De' Qay pItlh | Data transfer complete |
When using rIntaH in a sentence, you must not also use the -ta' or any other Type 7 suffix. rIntaH is, in fact, the verb rIn be finished, be completed plus the Type 7 suffix -taH be continuous; rIntaH indicates that something has been completed, and that the sense of completion is continuous: a sense of the act being a fait accompli, something which has been done and can never again be undone.
The phrase at last conveys some of this meaning, but nowhere near emphasises the finality of this word. rIntaH comes after the sentence, the same as pItlh.
| De' Datlhap rIntaH | You have taken the information |
| qama' vIHup rIntaH | I have punished the prisoner |
| tlhIngan DIjey rIntaH | We defeated the Klingons (at last) |
Next lesson: the perfective Type 7 suffix -pu'; what it means and how it differs from -ta'.
No comments:
Post a Comment
DaH yIjatlh! Speak now!