tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Jan 05 21:31:30 2004

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Re: KLBC Re: grammer/vocabulary questions from beginner

David Trimboli ([email protected]) [KLI Member] [Hol po'wI']

"Can you answer my question?"/"I have a question" would probably end up as
/HIjang/ "Answer me!" in Klingon.

As I'm sure you're aware, languages don't always translate word-for-word,
and the less related the languages in question, the more likely it is that
you're going to have to express the concept originally instead of
translating the words.  You would not translate Spanish "Tengo hambre" with
English "I have hunger"; you'd express it as "I am hungry."  So Klingon
apparently does not say "I have a question," but it CAN express the same
idea in different ways, like /HIjang/ "Answer me!" or "jIghel" "I ask a
question."

In my opinion, the imperative version is more likely to be the correct one,
given what we know of Klingon grammar and culture.

SuStel
Stardate 4014.1

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2004 6:25 PM
Subject: Re: KLBC Re: grammer/vocabulary questions from beginner


> Sustel;
> That would be ok, except i am trying to translate a song from urdu to
> tlhlngan Hol and that is in the song. "can you answer my question or you
could say, i
> have a question, because that is the way this language works. some things
> mean the same, depending on the context. they don't use vowels in the
adult
> version of the language. this is only used when teaching children, so it
can be a
> bit dificult at times. It is a very complex language as far as languages
go. it
> is also a very old language, with very old words. ok most songs in urdu
are
> from very old poems and i mean old! like 100's of years old. nowadays even
> people from pakistan and surrounding areas that use the language don't
even know
> how to speak it properly. i am translating a "gazal", which is from the
old
> style language and poems. maybe someone on this list might be from the
area and
> can explain it better than i can.
> weQqul
> HovpoH 4013.6
>

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