tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jan 08 16:22:12 2004

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Re: more questions on translating words

Scott Willis ([email protected]) [KLI Member] [Hol po'wI']

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2004 10:33 AM
Subject: more questions on translating words

> how
> would you say:
> i am (this or that object)

{[object] jIH} "I am [object]"

>  this wont make sense to anyone so i will give the complete sentence in
urdu
> main tumhari kanhay ki kasam hum...meaning 'I am your only  promise.'

AFAIK, we have no noun corresponding to the English noun "promise". We do,
however, have a verb, {lay'} "to promise". Perhaps you could do something
with this. Not being able to read urdu, I'm not sure of the precise
meaning. }}: )

> is there a difference in the words always and forever?

I suspect not. We have an adverbial, {reH} "always", which has been
translated as "forever" at least once in canon, in Power Klingon:

{reH tlhInganpu' taHjaj!} "Klingons forever!"

> leave, as in go away from

Few ways to say this:
{mej} "to leave, depart" ({ghorgh mamej?} "When do we leave?" CK)
{tlheD} "to leave, depart" (Not used in canon, AFAIK)
{jaH} "to go (to a place)"
{ghoS} "to approach" or (I think) "to move from one place to another".
({nughoS jagh} "The enemy approaches us." CK)

> stay

{ratlh} "to remain" ({luq, ratlh} "OK, he stays" KCD)

> wait, as in don't wait for me

{loS} "to wait", but I don't know if it can take an object.

> how would you say 'will be', as in future tense? ex: this will take place
or
> this will happen

OK, now we're getting down to fundamentals.
There is no tense in Klingon. Period. We can only state whether or not
something is ongoing, stopped, resumed, etc. within the time frame of the
discussion at hand.
If we're obviously speaking about something in the past, then the aspect
would indicate those thngs only for the past. If I say {ben, be'nalwI'
vIqIH}, the literal translation would be "Years ago, I meet my wife." We
infer tense from {ben} "years ago", and we know to make the verb past tense
in English: "I *met* my wife".
Same thing with future tense. {wa'leS, 'uQ wISop} is literally, "Tomorrow,
we eat dinner", and the future tense must be gathered from "tomorrow".

> what is the word for 'if'

"If is indicated by a type 9 verb suffix {-chugh}
{bIjeghbe'chugh, vaj bIHegh} "Surrender or die!" (TKD)
{bIjatlhnISchugh, tlhIngan Hol yIjatlh!} "If you must speak, speak Klingon!"

--ngabwI'
Beginners' Grammarian,
Klingon Language Institute
http://kli.org/
HovpoH 701016.6

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