tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Oct 24 12:02:06 1998
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
RE: More words
ja' "Rose, Thornton (Atlanta)" <[email protected]>:
>By "more extensive set" I mean more new words. I think more
>people would take an interest in Klingon if there were more
>words for the things that they would want to say, and the Star
>Trek writers might just do a better job, too.
ngeDlaH tlhIngan Hol pagh DajlaH tlhIngan Hol. ngeDqu'chugh, Dajqu'be'.
qech qeltaHvIS taghwI', QublaHchu'be'chugh, roD DIpmey chu' poQ. 'ach
chenchugh mu'mey law', 'ej HolmajvaD DIvI' Hol rurmoHchugh mu'meyvam,
Do'Ha' qetlhchoH Holmaj.
Hov leng qonwI'pu' QaHbe'bej mu'mey chu'. pab'e' lughajqu'bogh lulo'be'!
jatlhHa'taH 'e' neH luchaw' mu'mey chu'.
qayu'qa': nuq'e' Dajatlh DaneH? pIj pab qay' law' mu'tay' qay' puS.
yoylaH je ghu': rut Qatlhlaw'bogh pab ma'chu' mu' le'.
...mughwI' yIchu'...engaging universal translator...
There's a conflict between making Klingon easy and making it interesting.
When beginners run into difficulty expressing themselves, the first thing
they cry for is more vocabulary to make it easier to translate what they
are trying to say. But that would lead to Klingon becoming just a code
for their native language, and its distinctiveness would be lost.
New words won't help the Star Trek writers. They don't use the grammar
they do have anyway. New words will just let them say more things badly.
I ask again: What is it that you want to say? There's usually a simple
matter of grammar that sidesteps the apparent lack of vocabulary. It goes
the other way as well: sometimes an appropriate word can cut through what
seems like a difficult grammatical problem.
-- ghunchu'wI'