tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Feb 12 06:52:20 1997
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RE: KLBC: tach Such
- From: "David Trimboli" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: KLBC: tach Such
- Date: Wed, 12 Feb 97 14:49:45 UT
On Tuesday, February 11, 1997 9:20 PM, [email protected] on behalf of Perry
J. Brulotte wrote:
> A Terran enters a Klingon bar.
> He sits.
> The bartender approaches, and asks, "What do you want?"
> The Terran replies, "Romulan Ale."
> The bartender asks, "In a dirty glass?"
> The Terran answers, "No. In a broken glass."
> The bartender says, "10 credits. Pay now!"
> The terran replies, "Okay." He gives the bartender 12 credits. "Keep the
> change."
> The bartender is offended. He gives the extra 2 credits back to the
> terran. "I will forget this, terran."
> The terran is confused. "Why?"
> The bartender draws his dagger. "Because you have offended me!"
> The terran raises his hands. "I'm sorry."
> The bartender drives the knife through the terran's heart. "*@#&^
> tourist!"
>
> -----
>
> tlhIngan tach 'el tera'ngan.
> ba'.
> ghoS chom. tlhob, >nuqneH?<
> jang tera'ngan, >romuluSngan HIq.<
> tlhob chom, >HIvje'Daq lam DaneH'a'?<
This kinda gives me the impression of a pile of dirt in the glass.
Fortunately, the word {lam} is also a verb, meaning "be dirty."
HIvje' lamDaq DaneH'a'
Do you want it in a dirty glass?
Remember, when using verbs like adjectives, any Type 5 noun suffix goes onto
the *verb*.
> jang tera'ngan, >ghobe. HIvje'Daq ghor.<
{ghor} does not mean "be broken," it means "break (something)." To get "be
broken," we have to use a couple of suffixes:
HIvje'Daq ghorlu'pu'bogh
In a glass which one has broken.
Get it? Check out the suffixes I've used.
> jatlh chom, >wa'maH DeQmey. DaH yIDIl!<
> jang tera'ngan, >lu'.< wa'maH cha' DeQmey nob. >latlhmey yIpol.<
That's an interesting way to express the concept of "change." However, you
have used the wrong suffix. {latlhmey tIpol}
> maw chom.
{maw} is "offend," not "be offended." This is the same problem that we had
with {ghor} above. However, which you might say {chom mawlu'pu'} "Someone has
offended the bartender," we KNOW who did it. Why bother with the indefinite
subject?
chom mawpu'
He has offended the bartender.
> latlh cha' DeQmey nob.
There's not a scrap of evidence that we can use {latlh} like we do {Hoch}.
Don't say {latlh <noun>}. Either use only {latlh}, or find a completely
different way to say it.
Also, you've lost the "back to the Terran" part. Since this is "giving back,"
you might consider using the suffix {-Ha'}. Watch this:
tera'nganvaD latlh nobHa'.
He gives the additional back to the Terran.
Here, {nobHa'} means "ungive."
> >wanI'vam vIlIj, tera'ngan.<
> tera'ngan mIS. >qatlh?<
{tera'ngan} is the subject of the sentence, "The Terran is confused," and must
come last in the Klingon sentence. {mIS tera'ngan}.
> tajDaj lel chom. >chomalmoH!<
You obviously meant {maw}, not {mal}.
Again, {maw} is "offend," not "be offended." This actually simplifies the
sentence, as we don't need to worry about using {-moH}.
I'm going to add the "because" part to it as well. It's not a complete
sentence, but neither is the original English.
chomawmo'
Because you offended me!
> ghopDu'Daj pep tera'ngan. >jIQoS.<
> tIqDaj tera'ngan DuQ chom. >petaQ SuchwI'!<
"The Terran's heart" is simply {tera'ngan tIq}. Review TKD 3.4 for noun-noun
constructions.
I'll leave the epithet alone; we really don't know much about how their used.
--
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97118.7