tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Dec 11 13:22:07 1995
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: Attn: Klingons in Europe
>Date: Mon, 11 Dec 1995 07:02:21 -0800
>From: "c.j.atherton-cj" <[email protected]>
>majQa'!
>*Ireland*DaQ vISuch vIneHbejtaH!
-Daq, not -DaQ. DaQ means "ponytail". And if you have "-Daq", then use
jISuch, not vISuch. You can "visit Ireland" (in which case Ireland is the
object of the verb) or "visit [intransitively] *in* Ireland" (in which case
the verb has no object).
>qaqIHlaHchugh vaj jIQuchQu'!
-qu', not -Qu'. Try to keep them straight.
>qep'a' *european* qaS neHlu' 'Iv?
>[corrections to the above sentences, particularly the last, welcome ;) ]
The last one needs it most.
"A European qep'a'" is how you're starting, right? Well, I don't think
it's reasonable to look for a verb meaning "to be European"; it's probably
safer to go for (and borrow) a noun meaning "Europe". That will give us
"*Europe* qep'a'" for "Europe's conference", a conference peculiar to
Europe. You could also do "*Europe*ngan qep'a'" for a conference belonging
to Europeans, with roughly the same meaning.
Then to say "A European qep'a' occurs". Remember that the subject has to
come AFTER the verb: qaS *Europe* qep'a', not with qaS last.
Then for the last part. You correctly leave out "'e'", since "neH" doesn't
use it. But "neHlu'" means "it is wanted by someone unspecified." -lu'
indicates the subject of the clause, that it's unspcified. Then you fill
in the subject with "'Iv"! A lot of people make this mistake, and it's a
warning flag that should be easy to set up: if you EVER see a
noun/noun-phrase after a verb with -lu', provided that the noun-phrase is
part of the verb's clause, you've done something wrong. Verbs with -lu' on
them do not have subjects.
So what are you saying? "Who wants a European qep'a' to occur," right?
Then what's the need for "-lu'"? "qaS *Europe* qep'a' neH 'Iv?" Think of
it this way. If we wanted to say "Krankor wants a European qep'a' to
happen", we'd say "qaS *Europe* qep'a' neH Qanqor", right? And then we
just replace "Qanqor" with the question-word "'Iv".
~mark