tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Oct 23 13:40:27 1998
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RE: KLBG
- From: "Andeen, Eric" <[email protected]>
- Subject: RE: KLBG
- Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1998 13:37:05 -0700
Welcome to the list, QoreQ. My name is pagh, and I am the current Beginners'
Grammarian. It's my job to help beginners learn Klignon. Whenever you have a
post you want help with, mark it for my attention by putting the letters
KLBC in the subject line.
lab QoreQ:
> Savan
qatlh juvannIS?
> tlhIngan Hol tetlhvaD vIlI' QInvam wa'DIch
Remember your sentence order - the object goes before the verb. I'm not
going to get into the whole <lab> vs. <lI'> debate, but I would use <lab>
here.
Many of use use <jabbI'IDghom> to refer to the mailing list. The main reason
for this is that we have been around since before <QIn> and <tetlh>, but I
do think <ghom> fits better than <tetlh>.
> chaq tetlhvaD vIchu' 'ach tlhIngan HolvaD vIchube'
Your prefix on <chu'> should be <jI-> because the verb has no direct object.
This usage is also a bit awkward, especially in the second part of the
sentence. You are saying "I am not new for the benefit of the Klingon
language", but the language doesn't care a whit whether you are new or not.
I would suggest rephrasing this as "I joined the list last week, but I began
studying Klingon 150 days ago", or something similar.
> tlhIngan Hol Postal Course vIHaD ...
I don't generally advocate adding aspect to a sentence, but this is one
place it would be perfect. The postal course is a thing with a definite end
point (lesson 12, I believe), so if you are going through it, you should add
<-lI'> to the verb <vIHaD>.
> 'ej jangwIj lughmoH vay' 'e' vIneH
<jang> cannot be used this way. <ghItlh> or <ta'> would work for the noun,
though. You should also drop the <'e'>. Klingon has very few exceptions to
the rules, but one of them is that in a "Sentence As Object" construction
with <neH> as the second verb, <'e'> and <net> are not used. See TKD 6.2.5.
> [vIjatlh'a' lugh]
> DuH'a' 'oH
nuqjatlh? What do you mean here?
> Can /jang/ and /yu'/ be used as nouns?
No.
> chay' mu'tlheghvetlh vImugh tlhIngan
> DIp lo'laH'a' jang yu' je qar'a'
I'm not sure what to make of this. I think you should probably stick to
simpler sentences for a while.
> jIjeQbe' tlhIngan vImughDI' yu'mey va 'ach vInID
It's generally good style to put subordinate clauses like <tlhIngan
vImughDI'> before the main clause, although it is acceptable to put it in
either place. You should also say <tlhIngan Hol> instead of just <tlhIngan>,
which can only refer to a Klingon person.
I don't think <-DI'> is the right suffix here; <-vIS> (with the obligitary
<-taH> added) would be better.
The part with <yu'mey va> really lost me. I don't know what you are trying
to do here.
In the last bit (vInID), the prefix should probably be <jI-> again.
> 'ej paqvo' batlh (Bible) vImughlI' yo'el (Joel)
<paq batlh> (which should be <batlh paq>) really doesn't work for "Bible".
If you are translating the bible, just call it "the Bible" or "the Christian
Bible". I realize there is a lot of etymology wrapped up in the term
"Bible", but that does not really carry over into Klingon.
Remember your sentence order again. <yo'el> should go before <vImughlI'>.
> vay' mughlI'chugh vItlhIj
Sentence order again. <mughlI'chugh vay'>. Also, the prefix on <tlhIj>
should be <jI->.
> tugh vIlI'
> tlhInganwIj QaQ 'e' vItul
Sentence order again: <QaQ tlhInganwIj 'e' vItul>. This is also semantically
a wee bit off. <tlhIngan> can really only apply to a person. You would need
to say something like <QaQ tlhIngan Hol laHwIj 'e' vItul>, or better yet
<batlh jIjatlh 'e' vItul>.
A general comment - your abilities are pretty good for someone just joining
us, and we are glad to have you. I don't think you should be translating the
Book of Joel right now, though. You need to be able to express your own
thoughts clearly before you can even think about trying to translate others'
thoughts, and you are not there yet.
pagh
Beginners' Grammarian