tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Aug 13 22:09:30 1996

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Re: tlhIngan Hol chu' jIH


I wasn't sure if this was open to debate or not... so I took the liberty of
tossing in my $0.02, since Mark already replied. :)


At 07:31 AM 8/13/96 -0700, Mark E. Shoulson wrote:
>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>
>>Date: Sat, 10 Aug 1996 11:58:59 -0700
>>From: Randal Lanning <[email protected]>
>
>>At 11:29 AM 8/5/96 -0700, you wrote:
>
>Where "you"==Me, Mark Shoulson.
>
>>>>Date: Sun, 4 Aug 1996 16:36:24 -0700
>>>>From: Randal Lanning <[email protected]>
>>>
>>>A comment on the subject first: "tlhIngan Hol chu' jIH"...  Doesn't quite
>>>hold together.... I think you mean "tlhIngan Hol ghojwI' chu' jIH" or
>>>something.  That right?
>
>>   I was trying to say that "I am new to the Klingon language."
>>Although I have been studying the TKD for about a month now off and on, I
>>decided to write my first letter in it. I read the above as "I am a new
>>student to the Klingon language." Which if I have read it right, would be
>>correct also.
>
>Right, that's what I was saying.  "New to..." is not really attested
>anywhere in known Klingon, and it's not clear how it would be done.  Would
>the thing you're new to be the object of the verb "chu'" (as you have it)?
>Possibly, but I wouldn't guess it at first.  And if it were, you'd have to
>put the right verb-prefix (presumably vI-) on the verb.


I'd re-cast:

        DaH tlhIngan Hol vIghojchoH neH

The <DaH> is probably optional.


>>   Should an object be defined as something more tangable so that the
>>implied "it" becomes meaningful? Would "choja' 'oH' vIQaghchugh'e'" be
>>correct? It doesn't sound right to me for some reason.
>
>No, it doesn't hold together.  There is no object in "Qagh."  "If I err it"
>or something doesn't work.


mu'tlheghvam vIjangqang, 'ach ~mark vIquvHa'moHQo'.


>>>>Qu'wIj ghuntaHwI'
>>>
>>>Here too, "My task is a programmer..."  You need 'oH.... 
>
>>   I could not find a word for "job". Though I might have said
>>something like "It is what I do to earn money." However, I could not find
>>anything to correspond to "Earn" and "Make" felt like I was creating it as
>>if I was counterfeiting so I avoided that one as well.
>
>Oh, I certainly agree that "Qu'" is acceptable for "job" (I use it that way
>myself).  The problem is that you need a verb (Qu'wIj 'oH ghunwI''e').
>Also, your job isn't a programmer, is it?  Your job is a job, and jobs
>aren't programmers.  Your job is *that of* a programmer, or *to be* a
>programmer, which would probably have to be expressed differently in
>Klingon.


I learned long ago from charghwI' to wince whenever I see a verb nominalized
and used in that "to be" construction:

        jIvummeH jIghun

I'm not sure I like that though... other suggestions?


--trI'Qal HoD



---
HoD trI'Qal, tlhIngan wo' Duj lIy So' ra'wI'
Captain T'rkal, Commander IKV Hidden Comet
Klingon speaker and net junkie!
HaghtaHbogh tlhIngan yIvoqQo'!  toH... qatlh HaghtaH Qanqor HoD???
monlI'bogh tlhInganbe' yIvoqQo'!  SoHvaD monlI' trI'Qal...

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