[Tlhingan-hol] Expressing instrumentality

[John R. Harness]

Hi!

This was a question I remember having when I was getting started. The
answer is that there is no easy way to talk about instrumentality in
Klingon, grammatically speaking, and that in certain cases you will need to
use different constructions. Would that we had an instrumental suffix!
(Hint, hint, Marc!) But we don't.

You're right that sometimes the -mo' suffix might do the trick.

However, the most prevalent way to talk about instruments is with the verb
{lo'}, meaning "to use," and the suffixes {-taHvIS}. I.e., "While using X,
I did Y."

'aqnaw lo'taHvIS, HoH. - While using a general-purpose knife, she killed
him.

Other verbs or other phrases might do a better job of capturing another
idea at certain times. The {lo'taHvIS} example covers your example of "We
built the table with a hammer" but perhaps...

SutlhDI', vaj Qochbe'. -> When we negotiated, we agreed.

So, as you can see, you will need to tailor what you are trying to say to
fit Klingon grammar instead of finding an easy, single way to talk about
"instrument."

(Note a use of {ghoS}: If you intend to approach a location *via* a certain
route, the *route* takes -Daq while the destination is treated as a direct
object: For example, {HeDaq ngem ghoS} - "He approaches the forest via the
course.")

'arHa




--

Socialist Alternative <http://www.socialistalternative.org/>
Klingon Language Institute <http://www.kli.org/>

On Tue, Apr 19, 2016 at 8:07 PM, Dillon, Kyle <kyledi at spu.edu> wrote:

> How does one express instrumentality in Klingon? That is, "through,"
> "with," or "by means of"? Examples:
>
> We succeeded *through* hard work.
> We built the table *with* a hammer.
> We prevented war *by means of* negotiation.
>
> I'm wondering if it may be some kind of subordinate clause with the verb
> *vegh*? Or do I just have to settle for the causative suffix *-mo*?
>
> -qayl
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
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