tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jan 13 04:33:54 2003
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Re: KLBC Conjugation of "To Be"
Bill wrote:
>(also, if my grammar is wrong, please correct me)
Welcome to the list, Bill!
My name is Quvar, and I am the current Beginners' Grammarian. My job here is to help out newcomers and beginners in learning Klingon, which means the people
who did it before me have decided you can trust me to evaluate your work. Include the letters "KLBC" in the subject line of a message, it marks it as a beginner level
topic. This may be a question for me, or just conversation with other beginners in general. KLBC is not limited onto to participation by beginners! Anyone may
contribute. The rule here is that the first person allowed to
discuss the grammar of a KLBC post is the BG (that's me). Only once I've gotten through with it, anyone may go ahead and post any corrections or additions they
think of. This keeps the beginner's confusion down to a minimum.
You can read more about this list in its FAQ on
http://www.bigfoot.com/~dspeers/klingon/faq.htm
That's a very good start you present us here. I'll go through it sentence per sentence.
>Hoch nuqneH!
{nuqneH} is a "greeting" in some way, yes, but it's always used on its own, as single sentence. An exclamation, so you cannot add any words.
Actually, you don't even need to here.
{nuqneH} is an abbreviation of {nuq DaneH} "what do you want?" ({Da-} "you-it" + {neH} "to want"). It couls also be an abbreviation of {nuq boneH}(the plural
form), so it can also be used to more than one person. We'll talk about these prefixes (Da-, bo-) later.
Anyway, Klingons don't say "hello" or so, so remember that {nuqneH} is not "Hi!" but it's more a response "Hey, you, whadyawant? Whazzup?"
>jIpong Bill.
On the list's FAQ you can read about how to say "May name is..."
It's a to-be-construction, decribed in section 6.3. of TKD
>jIghaj yu':
It's obvious that you have TKD, since you used some prefixes and found vocabulary already. But be careful with the definitions, verbs cannot always be used as
nouns. And if there is more than one definition for a word, you must respect all of them.
You have chosen {yu'} as "question", but it's a verb meaning "question someone" or "interrogate".
But that's not a problem for us, is it? :-)
In Klingon many things are easier expressed using verbs, so in you case just say "I interrogate". You can do that, I've seen. You have the right prefix up there, now
stick it to the verb. If you feel comfortable with the prefix chart in TKD "4.1.1. Basic prefixes", try to find the prefix for "I-you" and you can say "I interrogate you".
Another useful verb here is {ghel} "ask (a question)"
What other klingon resources do you have already?
>How do you conjugate "taH"?
Note that this verb does not mean "to be" in all the senses, literally this verb is "continue, endure, go on, survive", that's why it was used in "To be or not to be"
In Klingon, verbs are no "conjugated" as we know it from most languages we learn.
To identify subject and object, prefixes are used. The verb itself doesn't change
This is described in TKD section 4.1 Pronominal prefixes:
<<<<<<<<Each Klingon verb begins with a single prefix that indicates who or what is performing the action described by the verb and, when relevant, who or what is
the recipient of that action. In other words, Klingon verb prefixes indicate both the subject and the object of the sentence.>>>>>>>>
Feel free to ask more questions, or just try to make sentences, that's the best practice!
Quvar
Beginners' Grammarian
ghojwI'pu'wI' vISaH