Archive of Okrandian Canon
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From: Marc Okrand <mokrand@erols.com>
Newsgroups: startrek.klingon
Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 22:53:45 -0500
Subject: Re: -be', -Ha'
TPO wrote....
>par parHa' dislike like
>naD naDHa' commend discommend
>yuD yuDHa' dishonest honest
>yep yepHa' careful careless
>
>etc etc
>
>but then we have:
>
>Qoch Qochbe' disagree agree
>
>why not QochHa'
The short answer is that we *can* have QochHa', it's just not listed in the Dictionary. As I wrote elsewhere (in the old MSN newsgroup, but repeated in another thread in this newsgroup), for the most part, words in The Klingon Dictionary consisting of verb + suffix are there as a matter of convenience. That is, if you want to look up how to say "misinterpret," it's there -- {yajHa'}. {yajHa'} consists of {yaj} "understand" plus the negative suffix {-Ha'} "undo," and, even though {yajHa'} is an entry in the Dictionary, there is nothing to prevent other suffixes, including the other negative suffix {-be'}, from following {yaj}. Thus {yajbe'} is a perfectly well-formed word meaning "not understand."
Because there is a meaning difference between the two negative suffixes (for sake of brevity, {-Ha'} suggests doing or being something in the wrong way or undoing something; {-be'} suggests simply not doing or not being something), there is a meaning difference between {yajbe'} and {yajHa'}. The first word implies the absence of understanding ("not understand"); the second implies that any understanding that there may have been was imprecise or askew or not properly done ("misunderstand, misinterpret").
Which brings us to {Qochbe'} and {QochHa'}. Both consist of the verb {Qoch} "disagree" plus a negative suffix. Parallel to the example above with {yaj} "understand," {Qochbe'} implies an absence of disagreeing (hence "agree"); {QochHa'} implies that any disagreeing was misplaced or misconstrued or perhaps has been "undone." English lacks a simple way to say this. (At least I couldn't think of one; if anyone has any suggestions, I'd be interested in seeing them.) Made-up words like "misdisagree" or "undisagree" may get the idea across, but they're hardly elegant (unlike Klingon {QochHa'}, which is elegance itself).
Now this raises another question, slightly different from the original one: If both {Qochbe'} and {QochHa'} are acceptable Klingon words, why is one in the Dictionary and the other not? For better or worse, the Dictionary is a "one size fits all" sort of work. It's for those who want to study the language in depth (though it is far from exhaustive), but also for those who want a quick reference (How do you say "agree"?). Since "agree" (that is, "not disagree") is probably going to be said more frequently that "misdisagree" (or a more felicitous equivalent), it got to be listed. Similarly, {naDHa'} "discommend" is listed due to its importance in Klingon culture, though {naDbe'} "not commend" is a properly formed word.