tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Mar 25 05:11:36 2006
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Re: Slench... SuvwI'vaD ghaH?
- From: "QeS 'utlh" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: Slench... SuvwI'vaD ghaH?
- Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2006 23:11:20 +1000
- Bcc:
ghItlhpu' Shane MiQogh, ja':
><Metroid Prime: Hunters> vIQuj. mIghtaH mIn tIn...
><Slench> lupong.
Just as a matter of style, instead of {<Slench> lupong}, you might like to
think about using the suffix {-lu'} "indefinite subject". The problem is
that {lupong} means "they name it", but "they" is not indefinite like it is
in English: when you say {lupong}, it sounds like there's something missing,
like if you'd said "am in the room" in English. The difference is:
{<Slench> lupong} "they call it Slench" (i.e. "they" is someone particular
you've already mentioned)
{<Slench> ponglu'} "it is called Slench" (i.e. someone unspecified calls it
Slench)
You learn French, right? If it helps, {-lu'} is usually used where French
would use the pronoun "on": French "on le fait" = Klingon {ta'lu'} = English
"it is done, one does it".
>qaja' qatlh? tupmey wejmaH Dochvam jISuv.
A couple of things:
- watch your number order ({tupmey wejmaH} = "minute #30", {wejmaH tupmey} =
"30 minutes")
- remember to double-check your verb prefixes: {vI-} "I (do something to)
it". This is a very common prefix, and when speaking Klingon, you'll use
{vI-} a lot. As well, if you're talking to the whole list, the prefix {Sa-}
"I (do something to) you all" is probably better than {qa-} "I (do something
to) you (singular)".
Finally, {qatlh} normally comes at the start of the sentence (unless you're
quoting speech, in which case your word order is fine).
>roD, muHoH 'ach tugh, jIjIH!
"Normally it killed me, but soon, I monitor"?
>muSuvtaHvIS chol SoHchugh, DaHoHlaHbe'.
This is mostly very good. majQa'! As I mentioned earlier, you can't use
"you" in Klingon just like you can in English. "You" in English can refer to
an "indefinite" person or thing - something unspecified or unimportant to
the discussion. In Klingon, this sort of indefinite person is shown with the
suffix {-lu'} or with the word {vay'}: {chollu'chugh} or {cholchugh vay'}
"if someone gets close".
Of course, the problem comes in the second sentence, where you can't use the
type 5 suffix {-lu'}, because you want to use the suffix {-laH} instead.
Simple: just say {HoHlaHbe' vay'} "someone cannot kill it".
>choltaHvIS muSovbe'nIS.
"When it is near, it needs not to know me". An interesting way of putting
it.
>Hm... i can't manage to say "you cannot fight like a klingon... anyway...
Given your further clarification ("if you fight like a klingon it'll kill
you"), I would reword this as "when you fight, if you behave like a Klingon,
it will kill you". This can be done with three fairly basic Klingon
sentences; do you want to see if you can translate it? (Here's a clue: see
what you can do with the verb {Da} "behave like, behave as".)
>rut, leSSov pIm DochmeyDaq vInejnIS.
"Sometimes, I need to find different foresight in things". Remember that a
noun plus {-Daq} must go at the beginning of the sentence (see TKD section
6.1). Other than that, your sentence is perfectly grammatical - I'm just
having a bit of trouble understanding it.
Savan,
QeS 'utlh
tlhIngan Hol yejHaD pabpo' / Grammarian of the Klingon Language Institute
not nItoj Hemey ngo' juppu' ngo' je
(Old roads and old friends will never deceive you)
- Ubykh Hol vIttlhegh
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