tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Oct 31 13:41:34 1996

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RE: KLBC: some translations

jatlh HurghwI':

>  >I'm not sure if you can use {nep} "lie" in this 
>  >capacity as you have (i.e. with an object), but I'll go with it for now.
>
>  I figured it'd be okay to use lie because it has no object, really. If I
>  followed the previous posts on quotes, one would say:
>  <<Qapla'>> SoHvaD jIjatlh
>  for "I spoke/said 'Success' to you."
>
>  I treated nep like a verb of speaking, so I basically meant:
>  I lie for myself / I lie TO myself

Ah, I see.  Yes, I've wondered about this, too.  Can one use less-used verbs 
for speaking?  I don't have an answer for that.  It might be difficult for 
others to understand you in this regard (I didn't).  But I do know that verb 
of speaking never use {'e'}, and the quotation can either come before or after 
the verb of speaking.  Read TKD 67 carefully.

>  It seemed to me that when one pretends, one lies more to oneself than to >  
others.

I suppose it depends on the situation.

>  >The second verb in an {'e'} sentence must always have a prefix which >  
>indicates 
>  >a singular, third-person object (see the prefix chart on TKD 33).  >  
>Therefore, 
>  >you can't use {jI-}.  {vI-} is the correct prefix to use here.  You've 
made 
>  >this mistake twice in the above sentence, so I'll correct that here.
>  >SoHvaD jIjatlhbe' jIH SoHvaD 'e' vInep 'e' vIlIj.
>
>  You're right about the {vI-} except on the *nep*.  I also gleaned from that
>  conversation that, like the above example, the quote (in this case, what I
>  "lie") always comes before the inderect object or after the verb. I was
>  trying to say, basically:
>
>  "That," I lie to myself
>
>  Perhaps this doesn't apply.

I don't think so.  As I said, you don't use {'e'} when using verbs of 
speaking.  I'm not sure I understand your English sentence above, though.  
Surely you're not trying to quote the pronoun {'e'}, are you?

>>>  "I'm sorry, that's the only one I know."
>>>  QaS jIH, 'e' neH vISov.

>  >This is really two sentences in English, and I suggest you make it two 
>  >sentences in Klingon, two.  It's also important that you say what the 
"one" 
>  >thing is.  Without knowing, I'll pick something for an example: "story" 
{lut}.
>  >
>  >{jItlhIj.  lutvetlh neH vISov.}
>  >"I apologize.  I know only that story."
>
>  I just used 'e' to mean "one of those." Is that acceptable?

Ahh . . . I see now.  No.  {'e'} *only* refers to the previous *sentence*.  It 
never refers to a noun.  For "that/"those" for nouns, use the Type 4 noun 
suffix, {-vetlh} (I used it above).  Of course, the problem is that you need a 
noun to attach it to!  I still don't know what the noun is!

Also, to say "I am sorry" you need to add the correct verb prefix to {QoS}.  
{jIQoS}.

>  >{neH} is a special word.  When it follows a noun, it means "alone, only," 
>  >while when it follows a verb, it means, "merely, just."
>
>  And . . . ?
>  I used it correctly, no?

Well, it looks like you used {neH} correctly, except it must follow a noun or 
a verb, and {'e'} is neither.

>  See, it's like this. Because {-mo'} is in the addendum, I didn't see it at
>  first. I was puzzling over how to say: His stupidity caused him to use his
>  tongue . . .
>
>  I was just wondering if there was some magic way to say this without using
>  "because," out of curiosity.

Well, let me look for my wand . . .  :)

Yeah, I sometimes find myself flipping through this very dilemma, and I 
usually conclude that {-mo'} is the best way to do this.  Each situation is 
unique, of course.  There are always exceptions . . .

SuStel
Stardate 96832.9

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