tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Aug 25 10:51:32 1998

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Re: KLBC - mu'tlheghmey *random* vIchenmoH

---Burt Clawson  wrote:

> > > nImbuS wejvo' tera'Daq Qaypu' Sa'.  meq vIyajbe'.
> 
> > /Qay/ means "transfer" not "be tranferred."  Fix your sentence
> > accordingly.
> 
> "The general has transferred from Nimbus III to Earth."
> tlhIngan Hol mu'tlhegh lughlaw', qar'a'?

SIbI' jIghel vIneH <nuq Qaypu' ghaH?>.  chaq bIlugh.  /Qaylu'pu'/
/Qay'eghpu'/ vImaS jIH 'ach bImujbejbe'.

> > That's actually reversed from Marc's examples.  He uses OVS order in
> > pronoun as to be sentences.
> 
> chab 'oH 'Iw HIqlIj puj'e' 'e' DaHar'a'?

Which, as you know, would be likely interpreted as "pie" not as
"innovation" because of the food rerference.  Sounds liek a pretty
good insult to a poorly made rokeg blood pie.  Prepare for battle if
the chef is a Klingon. :)

> > > "Since no one important is absent, let the High Council decide."
> 
> > This use of /-jaj/ doesn't agree with what we know about it.  We've
> > seen it as a general wish that something something happen.  From
> > context here "let the high council decide" seems to be an
imperative.
> > Who is saying this?  To whom?
> 
> Dachmo' pagh potlh'e' wuqnIS yejquv.

maj.
 
> > /vI'/ means "point" as in the verbal symbol of separation between a
> > whole number and a decimal fraction.  We have no idea what the 
> > written
> > symbol for /vI'/ is for Klingons and there is no reason to assume it
> > is a dot, or is in any way related to the mathematical concept of a
> > point.  Careful as you look up the meanings of these words that you
> > get the right one.
> 
> > I'd use /Daq/ or /DaqHom/ to represent the mathematical "point."
> 
> You are most likely right.  I would like to respectfully point out
> however, that /vI'/ also translates as "marksmanship, sharpshooting,"
> which suggests to me a strong possibility that a "decimal point" may 
> very well be a dot or a point, and therefor carry the same
connotation.

I first attempted to read your noun /vI'/ as marksmanship.  It's
possible that the meanings are related.  I relate it first to
/vatlhvI'/ - percent, so my feeling about /vI'/ refers to a fractional
bit, a meaning that hovers in my mind when I picture the verb /vI'/,
too.  But I know from English that unrelated words often converge.  I
see *"the reigns of power" instead of "reins," a horsemanship metaphor
from a different root.  Sadly, as we have no body of ancient Klingon
literature to comb, we can't follow the evolution of the vocabulary.
 
> vI' lanHa'mo' Huch law' vIchIl.
> "I lost a lot of money because of a misplaced decimal point."

Are you using /lanHa'/ as an adjective?  /vI' lanHa'/ isn't a noun
phrase "a missplaced decimal point"  it's the phrase, "he misplaced a
decimal point."  I'd add a /-lu'/ to give it the indefinite subject of
your translation.

> > > "I gave a statue called 'Ship's edge' to my buddy for his
birthday."
> 
> > I don't like this one.  I think one or more of us is getting tired.
> > The combination of /-Daj/ and the noun-noun possessive is as
redundant
> > as "my buddy's his birthday."
> > Is /maqochwI' qoS/ the beneficiary of your action?
> > What does /<Duj HeH> pongbogh Hew/ actually mean?
> 
> maqochwI' qoS 'oHmo' DaHjaj'e' ghaHvaD <Duj HeH> pongbogh Hew 'e'
vInob.

I'm still staring blankly at  /<Duj HeH> pongbogh Hew/  "a sculpture
which names <Duj HeH>"?  "The <Duj HeH> which a sculpture names"?  Am
I missing a piece of canon that explains this usage?

And prithee tell, tuv'el, what is the verb in the sentence which is
the object of that /'e'/?

> > > "I'm melting!  What a world. What a world."
> 
> > "What" in "what a world" is not a question.  /nuq/ is a question.
> > Please figure out what "what a world" actually means and translate
that.
> 
> Qaghchu'qu' mu'tlheghvam 'e' vISov.  majatlhlaH not qon tuv'el, >
qar'a'?

mu'tlhegh?  mu'tlhegh yIngu'.  vIleghbe'. :)

> > :-)    bepchugh Qov latlh Qu' DawIv'a'?  You forgot the /-laH/ in
> "can't find."
> TRANS: If Qov gripes, do you choose annother task?
> 
> HISlaH!  lughbe'taHvIS vay' vIwaHqa'lI'.

qalchu'chugh mu'tlhegh pIj qaq mIwvetlh.
 
> > > Say'qu'moHmeH vIpubta'.
> > > "I had boiled it in order to sterilize it."
> 
> > qatlh meqleH tujqu' DapoQ?  bIHaq'a'?
> TRANS: Why do you require the very hot mek'leth?  Are you going to
> operate?
> 
> ghobe', jIHaq.  "No, I am going to intervene."

:)  SoHvaD yapbe'law' meqleH jej.  jaghlIj DIrDaq ponglIj DaghItlh'a'?
 
> chu' mu'tlheghmeyvam:
> 
> Dujvam 'etDaq HoS Hal lutu'lu'.
> "There is a power source in this ship's fore."

wa' HoS Hal tu'lu'.  moHaq /lu-/ yIlo'Qo'.
 
> nuq muq tlhIngan wo'?
> "What is the volume of the Klingon Empire?

I would have used /<volume unit> 'ar/ instead of /nuq/.  I believe we
hav canon asking measurement questions that way.  However /chorghvatlh
'uy' tlho'ren/ is arguably a /nuq/, so you do have a leg to stand on.

> qorwI' yIchuH!
> "Throw a spear at the scavenger!"

maj.

==
Qov - Beginners' Grammarian
"1999 is the penultimate year of the 20th century."


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