[Tlhingan-hol] Klingon Word of the Day: SuH

[Steven Boozer]

mayql qunenoS wrote:
>> thank you Ca'non master ! however this confused me :
>>
>>   not Hub'eghrupHa' lo'wI'
>>   the user is never caught at a disadvantage. SP2
>>
>> I thought that {-Ha'} always occurs immediately after the verb, before
>> any other suffixes. 

TKD 47f.:  It is interesting that {-Ha'} always occurs right after the verb. It is not known why Klingon grammarians insist on calling it a rover. It was felt best not to argue with Klingon tradition, however, so {-Ha'} is here classified as a rover.

>> Why is it after the {-rup}?

Technically {-Ha'} is a Rover and can go theoretically anywhere, although it almost always makes more sense to put it right after the verb.  E.g.

  yISo'Ha'rup, yIghuS
  "Stand by to de-cloak for firing". (ST5)

If {-Ha'} *always* came after the verb that would make it a Type 1 (V1) suffix, which it isn't.  At least according to traditional Klingon grammarians.
 
SuStel:
> Until such time as Okrand says otherwise, just consider it an error.

Perhaps not an error, more a subtlety:  {Hub} VERB + {-'egh} V1 + {-rup} V2 + {-Ha'} ROVER.  He was trying to translate "caught at a disadvantage" given him by the SkyBox people.  

I guess we've discovered why they insist on calling it a rover.  Perhaps {-Ha'} roved around more in an earlier stage of the language.  Or perhaps the ST5 example is a feature of Clipped Klingon, uttered in the excitement of battle.


--
Voragh
tlhIngan ghantoH pIn'a'
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons