tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon May 11 22:23:54 1998
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Re: SoQHomwIj cha'DIch
- From: Qov <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: SoQHomwIj cha'DIch
- Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 22:20:38 -0700
BTW: Mathew, if you want to be sure the BG looks at your work, include the
letters "KLBC" in the subject line. If I'm in a hurry I delete the non-KLBC
unread.
At 17:07 98-05-11 -0700, Matthew Peperell wrote:
}nIDvam QaQ'a' law' nIDwiJ wa'DIch?
}Is this try any better than my first try?
{nID} is a verb, not a noun, so you can't put noun suffixes on it or ask it
to do a noun's job. If you say {much} - presentation or {QIn} - message, or
{mu'tlheghmey} - sentences, instead, then you can fit them into the correct
comparative.
You also haven't got the comparative structure quite right. Use:
{<first noun phrase> <stative verb> law' <second noun phrase> <same stative
verb again> puS}
This means that the <first noun phrase> is more endowed with the quality
indicated by <stative verb> than the <second noun phrase> is.
Unfortunately we don't *know* here to put {-'a'} to make this into a yes/no
question. I don't think it would be on the {QaQ}s, more likely on one or
the other or both of {law'} and {puS}. But we don't know, so we can't do it.
You could make it into a question by appending {qar'a'}.
mu'tlheghmeyvam QaQ law' mu'tlheghmeywIj wa'DIch QaQ puS, qar'a'?
"These sentences are better than my first sentences, right?"
}I'm learning slowly but I enjoy it.
}QIt jIghoj 'ej vItIv.
}ghojwI'jIH. wa' loDnI' vIghaj ghaH jonwI' tuj patpu'
}I am a student. I have one brother.
Would help me read if you had put a period after {ghaj}. It's fine up to
there, but then you got yourself mixed up. Maybe the period would have
helped you, too:
}He is an engineer of heating systems.
}ghaH jonwI' tuj patpu'
You know to say {tlhIngan maH}. For any similar sentence that says
"<pronoun> is <some*thing*>," follow the same structure: {<something>
<pronoun>}.
Have another look at the noun-noun construction in section 3.4. The first
noun is the thing that the second noun is an attribute or possesion of. Yes,
you can string them, and yes the grouping can be ambiguous. Just don't try
to cram more into noun-nouns than you can follow when reading it outloud.
The plural for an inanimate thing is always formed in {-mey}. {-pu'} is
only used to make the plurals of beings that are capable of using language.
So:
{tuj patmey} is good for "heating systems"
The problem with {jonwI'} is that it might not be as generic a term in
Klingon as it is in English; it could just refer to the person who looks
after a ships engines. For the sake of expediency, lets use {chamwI'},
technician, which isn't quite right either.
{tuj patmey chamwI'}
technician of systems of heat
or
heat's systems' technician
or
technician of heat's systems
Any of which is what you want.
Put it together:
{tuj patmey chamwI' ghaH}
"He is a technician of heat's systems."
}Subject: my second little speech.
maj.
}##End of translation##
}
}I also have a few queries:
}1) how would I say 'my second attempt at klingon?' : I can't find the noun for
}'try' and I don't know how to apply the word 'at'.
We don't have a noun for "try." Recast to something like:
"I am sending my second Klingon message."
}2) how would I replace {nIDwiJ} to mean 'first one'. Will the brevity make it
}sound more natural in klingon like it does to its English form?
I think that's been covered above.
}3) When do you use the suffix -jIH and when do you use the prefix jI- ?
Interesting question. It contains a false asumption. {jIH} is not a
suffix. It is a noun meaning "viewing screen" and a verb meaning "monitor"
and (most often) a pronoun meaning "I". It is in each case its own word.
But I know where you might get the idea that it's a suffix, and I'll get to
that in a moment.
You've used {jI-} correctly above. The correct and obligatory use of {jI-}
is on verbs that have a first person singular subject and no object. "I
<do/am something>" No object, not doing something to anything. {jIQong} - I
sleep. {jItlhutlh} - I drink. {jIval} - I am smart.
The correct use of the pronoun {jIH} is to resolve ambiguty and add emphasis
to the fact that "I" is the subject or object of a sentence.
Examples:
jIghung - I'm hungry
jIghung jIH - *I* am hungry. (emphasises subject)
cholegh - You see me
jIH cholegh - You see *me*. (emphasises object)
maghIQ - we vacationed
maghIQ jIH be'nI'wI' je - My sister and I vacationed. (resolves ambiguity)
The same applies for any of the personal pronouns, found in section 5.1 of TKD.
}4) Related to 1, how can I express the idea of a noun when a verb is given
}in the vocab sections? the words I am looking for are exam and collision (vb is
paw')
Usually you don't. You recast to use the verb.
"There was a collision." --> {paw'lu'} "[Unspecified subject(s)] collided."
"The collision scared me." --> {paw'DI' mughIj wanI'} "The event scared me
when it/they collided."
}5) how do I say 'last' to mean 'most recent'.
Just say when in the sequence of the ones that have occured. Explain it. e
don't have a single word for the concept.
}It might'nt be hard to see that I want to rephrase the first sentence quite
}dramatically! Ideally I want to ask "Is this try any better than my last
(one)?
}(Both the word 'first' and 'last' can be used and in this case
}both mean the same! English certainly is a perculiar language!)
Consider:
Dubpu''a' tlhIngan HolwIj
"Has my Klingon improved?"
Qov [email protected]
Now on ICQ: 12235599