tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jul 09 14:48:59 1998
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RE: KLBC: yej
lab Edy:
> >> qaStaHvIS ra'ghomquv ghom.
> >
> >This was tough to figure out. I am glad you included a
> >translation. I think your first sentence is trying to
> >say the High Command is meeting, and the translation
> >indicates it is a reunion. For the reunion idea, we have
> >a perfect tool: the suffix <-qa'>. The rest of the
> >sentence needs some restructuring:
> >
> ><ghomqa'lI' ra'ghomquv> - "The High Command is meeting again"
After a second look, it was a little clearer what you were trying to do, and
if you replaced <ghom> with <qep>, it would have worked. It still doesn't
carry the reunion idea, though.
> I'm not sure if the suffix {-qa'} in {ghomqa'lI'} represents
> the real idea. In TKD 37 "-qa', this suffix implies that an action
> had been taking place, then it stopped, and then began again."
> The "re"union don't mean that the union tookke place, stopped and
> restart. Is there a canon exemple of it's use?
I'm not the Ca'Non Master Voragh, and I don't have any examples at hand, but
I think I can explain a bit more clearly. Consider a group of people were
together for some reason and then went their separate ways. When some of
them decide to get back together again, they call it a "reunion". The idea
is they are meeting again - they had met in the past, stopped, and were
resuming meeting. This is the idea that <-qa'> conveys.
> >> poH nI'qu' jatlhta'DI' 'aj negh tlhob:
> >
> >You are trying to say "The admiral talks for a long time,
> >and when he's one, he asks the soldiers:", yes?
"done", not "one". HIvqa' veqlargh.
> Should be "After talk for a very long time, the admiral asks
> to the soldiers"
I think that is the same as what I said, ignoring typos.
...
>
> >Here are a few fairly long and convoluted English
> >sentences. See if you can translate them into
> >natural sounding Klingon. Remember - Klingon works
> >better with several short, simple sentences than
> >with one long ugly one.
> >
> >1. When my car (Duj) broke down, I took it to the
> >repair shop (tI'wI' yaH), and while I waited for
> >it to be repaired, I read a magazine.
>
> Duy'DI' DujwIj tI'wI'yaHDaq vItlhap(*).
> DujwIj tI'lu'taH. 'e' jIloStaHvIS QonoS vIlaD.
>
> * - I'm not sure if the correct verb should be {tlhap}. There might
> be other verbs as {lan}, (ghoS} or other one else.
Pretty good. Some suggestions: consider <Duy'choH> or <Qapbe'choH> instead
of <Duy'> in the first sentence. I think <tlhap> is OK in this sentence; the
only canon use I can remember is not relevant here. Use <tI'wI' yaH> -
there's no need to make up a new compound noun.
Since my car should be done sometime, use <-lI'> instead of <-taH>. You also
need to use <vI-> instead of <jI-> on <vIloStaHvIS>. <'e'> is an object, and
it is treated as third person, singular.
The punctuation we use here is not really part of the language, but it can
be used to make things clearer. Some people put a period after the first
sentence in a SAO construction, as you did, and others do not.
> >2. Because I was reading and answering mail, I did
> >not have time to eat lunch, so I was hungry during
> >the silly meeting.
>
> QIn vIlaD 'ej QIn vItlhobmo' megh vISoplaHbe'. qaStaHvIS
> qep Dogh jIghung.
>
> For me, "have time" seems an idiomatic expression, then
> I cut it off.
You do need to put the <-mo'> on both verbs, and the second verb should be
<jang> rather than <tlhob>. You could also omit the second <QIn> if you
wanted to. "Have time" is indeed an idiom, and your solution was quite good.
You could also have used <... yapbe'mo' poHwIj ...>, or something like it.
> >3. Three weeks ago, I bought a new book, and because
> >my wife wanted read it, I gave it to her, but she has
> >not read it yet and she won't give it back.
>
> qaStaHvIS wej Hogh paq chu' vIje'. paq laD neHmo'
> ghaHvaD vInob. paq laDpu'be' vaj munobbe'
<qaStaHvIS wej Hogh ...> doesn't work here. What you are saying is that
during some three week period, I bought a book. Since Klingon doesn't have a
word for "weeks ago" that we know of, the easiest thing to do is covert to
days: <cha'maH wa'Hu' ...>.
In the second sentence, you left out a word: <paq laD neHmo' be'nalwI'
ghaHvaD vInob.> Without it, we don't know who wanted to read the book and
who I gave it to.
For the last sentence, it's probably better to use <'ej> than <vaj>. The
<vaj> implies a cause and effect relationship, and there wasn't one in the
original English. Finally, <munobbe'> just means that she does not return
the book, while <munobQo'> would mean she refuses to give back the book,
which is what I meant by the "won't give it back".
maj. batlh mu'tlheghwIj Damugh.
These sentences were a bit awkward in English, and would have produced
completely unreadable Klingon sentences if translated literally and not
broken up. By breaking each one into two or three sentences, you produced
good, simple, readable Klingon sentences.
pagh
Temporary Beginners' Grammarian