tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Oct 22 18:32:33 1998

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RE: KLBC Tribbleball

lab Johnny Wilson:
> Well I thought it was a simple sentence...
> My next attempt (if ya had seen my grades in
> high school english...).
>
> Ha' 'ov wI'ov. 
> Let's go compete.

<'ov> is only a verb, so it can't be used this way. Just <Ha'. ma'ov.> is
fine, though.

> yIHghanjaq le' lo' maH.
> We use special Tribbleclubs.

If you are in Marketing, and you have a new product you want to call the
TribbleClub(TM), this is fine. Otherwise, I think just two nouns right next
to each other is better. You left off the plural suffix, but that is
perfectly fine: plural suffixes are never required. In this case, I think
the sentence is a little clearer with the plural, so I am going to use it.

You are also missing the verb prefix. In this sentence it should be <DI->.
Since the subject is specified by the prefix, you don't need pronoun
anymore.

yIH ghanjaqmey le' DIlo'.

> verengan chop targh maj.
> (Good Targ bite Ferengi.)

<maj> is an exclamation all by itself, and can't really be used in a
sentence like this. The Klingon verb meaning "be good" is <QaQ>, but the
English "good" is so broad and vague that it is hard to tell what it means.

I'm not sure what you mean in the English here, so it's hard to help. If you
are trying to say "The targ bit the Ferengi.", <verengan chop targh> is
fine. If you are issuing a command, the full, formal way to say it is
<verengan yIchop>. When speaking to pets however, most Klingons use "clipped
Klingon", so the appropriate thing would be to point at the Ferengi and just
say <chop> to the targ.


> I know I used a smushed together noun but does it
> work in the context of the sentence? And yes I have
> read the FAQ but I've slept since then.
> Take Care.

I understood the smushed toghether noun, but I don't think it made your
sentence any clearer, so there's no reason not to just leave it as two
nouns.


pagh
Beginners' Grammarian

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