tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Oct 24 14:05:25 2002
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Re: Learning Project (hopefully)
Thanks. I will work on it
vumjI 'oH??
or 'oH vumjI
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steven Boozer" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2002 11:05 AM
Subject: Re: Learning Project (hopefully)
> Gina wrote:
>
> >I'm not sure any of these are right so anyone who can help me understand
why
> >they are wrong, please do.
>
> Since you didn't flag the Subject line with "KLBC" for the attention of
the
> Beginning Grammarian, I'll comment.
>
> > > The prisoner eats.
> >
> >Okay, in this one I think eats would be the verb and prisoner would be
the
> >subject and there is no object:
> > Sop qama' ( not sure about how this is done )
>
> Correct.
>
> > > The officer kills the prisoner.
> >
> >This one kills is the verb, the person being killed is the prisoner, so
that
> >is the subject and the officer would be the object???
> > yaS HoH qama'
>
> That means: "The prisoner kills the officer."
>
> The subject is the one acting (in this case, the one doing the
> killing). The object receives the action of the verb (in this case, the
> one being killed). Klingon word order is object - verb - subject ("OVS"
> for short). All together this becomes:
>
> qama' HoH yaS.
> The officer kills the prisoner.
>
> yaS HoH qama'.
> The prisoner kills the officer.
>
> > > The woman sees the man.
> >
> >In this one sees would be the verb, man would be the subject and woman
would
> >be the object...or is the woman the subject because she is doing the
seeing?
>
> The latter: "the woman" = subject, "sees" = verb, "the man" = object.
>
> loD legh be'.
> The woman sees the man.
>
> >I'm not sure about this one...
> >be' legh loD or is it loD leghbe'
>
> be' legh loD
> The man sees the woman.
>
> loD leghbe'.
> He/She does not see the man.
>
> {-be'} is a suffix meaning "not", which negates the action of the verb.
Be
> careful not to confuse the noun {be'} "woman" with the verb suffix {-be'}
> "not".
>
> By itself, {legh} is a verb in the third person with what we call a "zero
> prefix", that is you can't see it. Without any context - that is, if the
> subject and object are not known - it can be translated variously as:
>
> legh.
> He sees him/her/it/them.
> She sees him/her/it/them.
> They see them.
>
> > > The man runs.
> >
> >Man would be the object and runs would be the verb.
> > qetloD
>
> "man" = subject (the one doing the running); there is no object in this
> sentence. Thus:
>
> qet loD.
> The man runs.
>
> Be careful to separate the words.
>
> > > A prisoner drinks water.
> >
> >uummm. drinks is the verb, prisoner is the subject because it is doing
the
> >drinking and water is the object????
>
> Right.
>
> >I'm not sure about this one.
> >bIQ tlhutlh qama'
>
> Correct!
>
> > > A woman drinks liquor.
> >
> >Same with this, I'm not sure, but I think Liquor is the object, drinks is
> >the verb and woman is the subject.
>
> Right, but remember Klingon OVS word order. It's the opposite from
> English, which Okrand did intentionally to make it feel more "alien".
>
> >be' tlhutlh HIq
>
> This means: "The liquor drinks a woman." (!?)
>
> HIq tlhutlh be'.
> A woman drinks liquor.
>
> If it's easier, remember that in Klingon the subject always FOLLOWS the
verb:
>
> tlhutlh be'.
> The woman drinks.
>
> tlhutlh loD.
> The man drinks.
>
> ... and the object always PRECEDES the verb:
>
> HIq tlhutlh.
> He drinks liquor.
> She drinks liquor.
>
> HIq tlhutlh be'.
> The woman drinks liquor.
>
> bIQ tlhutlh loD.
> The man drinks water.
>
> And you can add the negative suffix {-be'} to the verb to say that the
> action does not occur:
>
> HIq tlhutlhbe'.
> He doesn't drink liquor.
> She doesn't drink liquor.
>
> tlhutlhbe' be'.
> The woman doesn't drink.
> The woman isn't drinking.
>
> tlhutlhbe' loD.
> The man doesn't drink.
> The man isn't drinking.
>
> HIq tlhutlhbe' be'.
> The woman doesn't drink liquor.
> The woman isn't drinking liquor.
>
> bIQ tlhutlhbe' loD.
> The man doesn't drink water.
> The man isn't drinking water.
>
> Mastering Klingon OVS word order is the crucial first step. Until it
> becomes automatic, you'll always be confused since you won't know who is
> doing what to whom!
>
>
> --
> Voragh
> Ca'Non Master of the Klingons
>