tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Aug 08 00:24:45 1998

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Re: KLBC - pabqoqwIj vIlughmoH

---Burt Clawson <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> KLBC - pabqoqwIj vIlughmoH.
> 
> ja' Qov:
> 
> > > > >From here I can see a man.
> > >
> > > naDevDaq loD vIleghlaH.
> >
> > Two things.
> > 1./naDev/ never takes /-Daq/, so to say "in here" or "to here" just
> > say /naDev/.
> > 2. I said "from here."  The motion of the verb /legh/ is directed
away
> > from here, so I'd use /naDevvo'/.
> 
> Here comes the question.  I thought that /-vo'/ referred only to > >
physical motion away from. 

The motion of the verb /legh/ is physically directed away from here. 
A spatial concept.  You can physically point in the direction of the
action, or draw a line on a picture.

> If that's not entirely true, then what is wrong with:
> /tera'ngan HolDaq tlhIngan Holvo' yImugh./  "Translate *from* Klingon 
> *to* English."  Movement of an idea?  I've been raked for trying 
> something like this before.

Nothing is physically located in one languge, nor does it move in a
direction that you can point towards another.  Fair enough difference?  

> /-lu'/
> boparlu' 'ach SoH Daparqu'lu'.
> nom jubwI'pu''e' lunuQchoHlu'.
>  The immortal ones become quickly annoyed.

This is weird.  It's more like "Someone quickly begins to annoy the
immortals."  I think "be annoyed" in English is more like "be blue"
than it is like "be helped."  In English when you say "He was
annoyed," there isn't much of an implication of an agent that was
annoying him, while the Klingon carries that.  

The suffix /-choH/ does apply to the onset of the action, 'to annoy,'
not the onset of the reaction, 'be annoyed,' so you can't use it to
refer to the onset of irritation.  

/nom jubwI'pu' luQaHlu'/ would definitely be "The immortals are
quickly helped."

The oddity of 'be annoyed' is an irregularity in English that makes it
difficult to translate that sentence into English, not an irregularity
in Klingon.  


> An uneasy teg'bat is immidiately awakened.
> SIbI' teghbat jotHa' vemmoHlu'.

okay.

> vItu'lu' jay'!
>  Damn, I am discovered!"

Because of the idiomatic use of /tu'lu'/, this sentence isn't very
clear.  /vItu'lu'/ reads as "I'm here,"  "I exist."  Theoretically it
does mean "I am observed," and perhaps you have context that would
make it clear.  I'd choose another verb here, though.

> /-'e'/ and "to be"
> tuv'el pach puqloD 'oH pongwIj'e'.
> "My name is Tuv'el, son of Claw.

Unless you're ghunchu'wI'.  (Qov ducks.)

> lurSa' be'etor je bIH vIghro'mey'e'.
>  Lursa and B'Etor are v'gro.

Remember OVS.  You're saying "they (l & b) are v'gro."  Start by
saying "They're v'gro" and then tack on the explanation of who 'they'
are.  Ha! I see why you did this: trying to duck the problem of where
to put /-'e'/ when you had two nouns, weren't you?  I'm surprised you
didn't just try it and see. :)  I'd put one /-'e'/ on each. 

Nice work.  

Here are some /-lu'/ sentences to try. (There are other valid ways to
translate, but use /-lu'/.)

There are five flutes here.
The faction was attacked.
Kang had his beard trimmed.
Our culture is being destroyed.
There will be a Ferengi in the bar.
Why doesn't this monitor get cleaned?  
==

Qov - Beginners' Grammarian

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