On 9/22/2021 1:01 PM, Steven Boozer wrote:
That’s right. AFAIK there are only four polysyllabic verbs known: {ghIpDIj} court martial, {He'So’} stink, {HoSghaj} be powerful, {nughI'} twist knuckle into someone's head. Hmm… perhaps “bisyllabic verbs” would be better. Did any more appear in the last two or three qep’a’mey and qepHommey?
*nughI'* is a term borrowed from English, so I don't count it among the "legitimate" polysyllabic verbs. qep'a' 27 gave us the slang word *Hampun*/yodel/. qepHom 17 gave us the onomatopoeias *ghughugh*/growl/ and *Qoghogh*/snort (like a pig)./ That's as far back as I'm going to look for now, but I seem to remember *Qoghogh* breaking the long dry spell of new polysyllabic verbs. And none of these appear to be normal, straightforward verbs. Oh, and don't forget *lo'laH*/be valuable,/ which I believe Okrand said isn't necessarily just *lo' + -laH.* -- SuStel http://trimboli.name