tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Jan 04 20:08:35 2000

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The Postal Course

The concerns posted in this message are my own.  End of
disclaimer.

First, there are many good things about David Barron's
Postal Course, which according to Alan Anderson's messages
to me are official, on the FAQ page, linked, sanctioned,
reviewed and approved by himself.

Let's set aside layout problems, such as too much in any one
lesson, let alone the first lesson--too many grammar
concepts for one lesson, too many vocabulary entries for one
lesson.  This should have been broken up into many lessons,
at least for not-really-linguist-expert students.  Many
accomplished linguists would not need this course because
they are capable of wading through TKD's complex grammar
section.

Now let's concentrate on the outright errors in this "KLI
(?) officially sanctioned course."

"....in tlhIngan Hol you would instead arrange it as 'The
officer see I' (obejct-verb-subject)."  If you assume {yaS
vIlegh jIH}, containing the pronoun {jIH}, you can prove
your point.  In that Klingon speakers seldom use the
redundant {jIH}, only the verb and its pronominal prefix
{vIlegh}, this statement needs clarification, at least.

"Finally, for everything else (i.e., neither language users
nor body parts), -mey is used."  Only three (3) types of
plurals are referred to in the Postal Course.  What happens
to the fourth kind of singular/plural pair?

The four verb pronominal prefixes presented in Lesson 1 are
jI-, bI-, qa-, and cho-.  Okay.  But because this makes no
reference to, let alone any explanation of, vI- and Da-, and
at the same time presents sentences which do take an object
(viz. tlhIngan Hol ghoj tera'ngan), I fear the student is in
for some major confusion.  (Ah, I should look ahead at the
next three lessons which are posted on the FAQ.  Just maybe,
the confusion is explained away in another lesson.)

Fortunately the Drills section has no plural subjects!  Not
true.  Oh well, at least the sentences with a plural subject
do not also have a singular object.  However, there is no
warning that the plurals presented must not be used in the
subject when the object is singular.

Now, I'll translate the homework drills.

1) tlhIngan Hol ghoj tera'ngan = An Earther studies the
Klingon language.*
       Just because the Postal Course lesson says nothing
about noun series, compounds, or possession, the beginning
student will have to deduce for himself/herself how to
handle this potential problem.
2) mu'mey jatlh tlhIngan = A Klingon says words.
3) cholegh = You see me.
4) ghopHomDu' ghaj verenganpu' = Ferengis have [minor]
hands.*
         *I'll can tell why David Barron apparently expected
"small hands."
5) choSuch = You visit me.
6) jatlhbe' Sajmey = Pets do not speak.
7) mu'mey ghaj Holmey = Languages possess words.
8) bIyIn = You are alive.
9) tera'ngan 'oy' Saj = The pet hurts an Earther.*
      *I guess this course teaches me something.  I realized
already that {'oy'} is a descriptive verb, such as "The
wound hurts."  And it is a noun.  But I had not realized
that it is a transitive verb, too.  Has this fact been
verified?
11) I see you = qalegh.
12) The friend has teeth = Ho'Du' ghaj jup.
13) You hit me = choqIp.
14) I accept = jIlaj.
15) Humans have big teeth = Ho'Du' tIn ghaj Humanpu'.*
          Of course, I would not use {Ho''a'Du'} here.  That
has come to mean "fangs," no?  And, the word {Humanpu'} is
not in the vocabulary list.  He probably expects
{tera'nganpu'} here.
16) Words lie = nepba' mu'mey.*
         Oh well, the verb suffix type 6 {-ba'} hasn't been
introduced yet.  But, that is where forcing translation
omits the "feeling" of Klingon cultural customs.
17) The thing obeys Ferengi words = verengan [Hol] mu'mey
lob Doch.
18) The Klingon speaks Klingon = tlhIngan Hol jatlh
tlhIngan.
19) You lie = nepwI' DaDaba'.*
          Oops, that idiomatic structure does not come to
new students.  It is in TKD's addendum.  I'd better stick
with bInep, with the suffix -ba'.
20) Small papers = navmey mach.*
          *wejpuH.  lughbe'ba' {navHommey}!

In conclusion, I will be extra careful to present a better
online Klingon language course than the one Alan Anderson
tells me is reviewed for correctness and sanctioned as the
official course.

peHruS

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