Verb Suffixes So Far

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Before moving on to the next lot of verb suffixes and their uses, let's have a brief look at the ones so far encountered.

tlhIngan Hol uses nine distinct classes of verb suffix, Type 1 through to Type 9. Each class of suffix covers a different topic - volition, predisposition, qualification, honorific and so on - but here are the ones which have been encountered so far.

Type 7 Suffixes

These four verb suffixes turned up in discussion of aspected verbs - describing an action which was completed in the past, or which is continuous or is expected to be completed in the future (in progress).

-lI' in progress

This suffix is used for a verb which is expected to be completed in the future; the action is in progress, with a definite goal ahead.

HeghlI' nov	The alien is dying
De' vIQaylI'	I am transferring the data

-pu' perfective

This indicates that something which was happening in the past has now ended.

veng Qaw'pu' chunDab	The meteor destroyed the city
nuleghpu' tlhInganpu'	The Klingons saw us

-taH continuous

This aspect indicates that an action is current and ongoing.

qoq SeHtaH nov	The alien is controlling the robot
yIghoStaH	Stay on course!

-ta' accomplished, done

nov HoHta'	He killed the alien
paq vIlaDta'	I have read the book

Type 9 Suffixes

Two of these syntactic markers have already been encountered: -'a' and -wI'

-'a'

This one is used when you want to ask a closed, yes/no question.

nov HoHta''a'	Did he kill the alien?
De' DaQaylI''a'	Are you transferring the data?

-DI' when

This one is used to describe as soon as or when.

nov HoHDI'	Once he kills the alien
De' DaQayDI'	As soon as you transfer the data
pa' 'elDI' be', be' HIv tlhIngan	When the woman entered the room, the Klingon attacked her

-pa' before

This one is used to describe something taking place before the verb.

nov DaHoHpa' HI'Ij	Before you kill the alien, listen to me!
De' Qaypa' vu'wI' paqvetlh yIQaw'	Destroy that book before the manager transfers the data!

-vIS while

This one is used to describe something taking place while the verb is going on. It always comes after the type 7 suffix -taH.

maSoptaHvIS Heghpu' nov	The alien died while we were eating
paq laD be' SuvtaHvIS tlhInganpu'	The women read a book while the Klingons fought

-wI'

This one got sneaked in under the radar, in the word SuvwI' warrior. This Type 9 suffix, attached to a verb, conveys the meaning of thing which does the verb, person who dies the verb, doer.

Using -wI' in this way turns the verb into a noun; the verb + -wI' combination can be placed in a sentence in the same place as a regular noun, can take certain noun suffixes, and can be modified with adjectival verbs as for any other kind of noun.

Suv	fight
SuvwI'	fighter, warrior
po'	expert, be expert, skilled
po'wI'	skilled person, expert
wIj	to farm
wIjwI'	farmer
vu'	manage
vu'wI'	manager
ra'	command
ra'wI'	Commander
Dev	lead, guide
DevwI'	leader, guide
Dor	escort
DorwI'	escort
Qum	communicate
QumwI'	communicator
mugh	translate
mughwI'	translator
nIS	disrupt
nISwI'	disruptor

The One That Doesn't Fit

-be' not

This one came in during the same lesson which introduced -'a'. This is not a regular verb suffix of Types 1 to 9. This belongs to a special class of verb suffix called a lengwI' rover (after leng travel, wander, voyage, roam). As a rover, -be' has an unusual role in the ranks of verb suffixes, and the meaning of the verb subtly alters the verb depending on where it appears:-

Dargh qembe' vu'wI'	The manager did not bring the tea
De'vetlh Qaybe'pu' QumwI'	The communicator did not transfer that data
mu'meyvam vImughbe'pu'	I did not translate these words/ (I did something else with them)
mu'meyvam vImughpu'be'	I did not translate these words/ (someone else did)

It has been stated before that -be' cannot appear in a verb which has an imperative prefix. There are negative rover prefixes which do appear in imperative verbs - one will be introduced in the next lesson.

So these are the suffixes encountered so far. Now to some new suffixes - more rovers, as a matter of fact, and in particular rovers which can be used effectively with adjective verbs, namely -Ha' and -qu'.

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