tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Feb 22 08:54:41 1999
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RE: KLBC ghItlhtaH
A couple of canonical observations...
: jatlh Tony:
: > nuqDaH jItagh
: > or
: > chay' jItagh
: > Where do I begin.
:
: chay' jItagh. If you were beginning a journey, <nuqDaq jItagh> would be
: fine. <nuqDaq> should only be used for spatial locations.
{chay'} is used somewhat more broadly in Klingon than "how" in English,
rather like *kak* in Russian come to think of it. Accordingly, used by
itself it's a sort of all-purpose, general interrogative: "The question
word {chay'} 'how?' may be used as a one-word sentence meaning 'How did
this happen? What happened? What the--?'" (TKD p.69-70) Here's how Okrand
has used it:
chay' Haw'pu' yaS
How did the officer flee? TKD
chay' jura'
What are your orders? ("How do you command us?") TKD/ST6
jIyajHa'. chay' jura'?
[I don't understand. What are your orders? (untranslated)] ST3
chay' Dochvam vIlo'
What do I do with this? ("How do I use this?") TKD
chay' Soj vISop?
How do I eat the food? CK
chay' nguv?
What color is it? ("How is it tinted?") KGT
: > vagh Hol paqHommey vIpItlhpu"
: > I have completed five lessons.
:
: <pItlh> is an exclamation meaning "Done!" It is a sentence all by itself.
: It's not a verb, so you can't use it like this. I think you can also do
: better than <Hol paqHom> - language pamphlet - for "language lesson". Try
Considering how brief Barron's lessons and homeworks are, {nav} "page"
could work.
: <Hol ghojmeH ghItlh> or <Hol ghojmeH Qu'>. Here's my suggestion for the
: whole thing:
:
: vagh Hol ghojmeH Qu' vIta'ta'.
Another verb to remember is {rIn} "be accomplished, be finished". From ST6
we know that {rIn} by itself (clipped?) is a term used in voice-only
communications, the equivalent of "Over" or "Come back" in English. {rIn}
can be made transitive by adding {-moH}:
vagh Qu'mey vIrInmoHta'
If *{rInmoH} "finish (something)" occurs in Klingon - and I admit it has
never appeared in canon - it may mean more "bring something (a process?) to
a finish" than the more general {ta'} "accomplish, do" which has been used
thus:
vIta'pu'be'
I didn't do it. TKD
Qu'Daj ta'taHvIS Hegh 'e' tul Hoch tlhIngan
To die in the line of duty is the hope of every Klingon. TKW
Nice twist: {Qu' ta'} "do/perform one's duty", i.e. to accomplish it rather
than merely attempting it.
DaH nuq ta'pu' Day joH?
What has Lady Di done now? RT
'oy'naQ DaQeqDI' mIw wa'DIch Data', 'ach 'oy'naQ Dachu'DI'
mIw paghDIch Data'
When you aim the painstik, you accomplish the first step, but
when you turn the painstik on, you accomplish the zeroth step. KGT
'oy'naQ Dachu'Ha'DI' mIw HochDIch Data'
When you turn the painstik off, you accomplish the last step. KGT
{ta'} is also a noun meaning "deed, accomplishment":
ta'mey Dun, bommey Dun.
Great deeds, great songs. TKW
: pagh
: Beginners' Grammarian
--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons