tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Apr 07 13:19:44 1994
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Re: William Tell version 2
- From: [email protected]
- Subject: Re: William Tell version 2
- Date: Fri, 08 Apr 94 01:15:33 EDT
ghItlh nIchyon:
>=HI' nov vIvuvQo' jItlhabmo'
>=puqloDwI' je>
>"je" has to join two nouns, or stand after a verb, so "matlhabmo' jIH
>puqloDwI' je", or "jItlhabmo'. tlhab je puqloDwI'"
I wouldn't be so sure. I'd use {je} after a single noun to say something like
"My son, too" or "My son as well". It's really more useful when someone
wishes to add something to another's person's sentence. yItu':
A:{wejSaD qelI'qam chuqDaq yovtaHbogh jagh yo' vIQaw'meH wa' pu' neH
vIlo'laH}
"I can destroy an enemy fleet with only one phaser at a range of 3000
Kellicams".
B:{jaghlI' je}
"So can your enemy".
I doubt B would want to repeat the entire sentence just to state that A's
enemy has the same ability as A so boastfully attributed to himself. There
are a lot of things about conjunctions that Okrand never describes. I'm still
in the dark as to whether it should be {Dulegh yaS HoD joq} or {nIlegh yaS
HoD joq}.
>=jang HI' <gharwI' jat nuch tIq>
>William Tell has just spoken *diplomatically*?!
No no no no. {gharwI' jat nuch tIq} is one of DrujIv's insults. It is
equivalent to the Terran "You're a lot of talk" or "Those are big words for
such a little guy". It is meant to indicate that the addressee of this insult
seems to be using words to compensate for a weakness. That's all. Elsewhere
in the story, I used {QuchDaj rotlh law' lam rotlh puS} which is a version of
DrujIv's {lamDaq QuchlIj DaHabmoHta'}.
>=vavwI' jagh vIDaQo' jay'>
>=jang HI' <vaj Sor'e' yIDa>
*rolls on floor laughing*
Yes! This segment about the tree came to me while poised over the keyboard
sometime after ramjep after a ghem that was loaded with HaQchor. That is
normally my peak creative writing time.
>=pu'beH tlhe'moH 'ej HI' tlhejbogh wej negh'e' bach
wej mang, surely. negh would mean "soldiers" as in a mass noun, as in "cannon
fodder". At least, that's my impression.
Ooh! I feel a grammatical debate coming on. TKD says that nouns like {mang}
(those with irregular plural) may take the {-mey} plural suffix, but that
would carry the "scattered all about" connotation. It gives the examples
"{DoSmey} /targets scattered all about/" and "{pengmey} /torpedoes all over
the place/". {wej mang} carries a strong implication of an implicit plural
suffix, and according the Bibl-, I mean TKD, that suffix would have to be
{-mey} (i.e., it couldn't be {-pu'}). In this case, the soldiers are in an
organized formation, so {mang[mey]} is inappropriate. {wej negh} is the only
way to indicate that the soldiers are not "scattered all about."
Here's a parallel: In English, you could say "three cows", but that could
only be used for females. If both sexes are present, or if the sexes are
uncertain, you'd probably have to resort to "three cattle".
>=HI' qImHa' 'ej puqloD qet
>puqloDDaq qet is safer.
Yeah. I guess so. I had an debate over this with Qanqor, but after thinking
it over, I think {-Daq} *is* safer. Even if it does tend to sound just a wee
bit on the redundant side to me.
>=puqloD jatlh <vavoywI' pIch Daghajbe'ba' 'e' vItlhoj
>jatlh puqloD!
Ack! Ack!!! Dochvam vIQaghDI' jIyepHa'!!! ravDaq QuchwIj vImupmoHtaH!! Wham
wham wham wham wham wham wham wham wham wham wham wham!!!!!
>=bortaS neHpu'bogh Suq rIntaHmo' nom juHqo'DajDaq cheghmeH Duj tIj
>Is that Suq rIntaH the double verb construction? Risky to place it in
subordination...
You think so? I just treat it like any other aspect marker. Only thing is
this one is a separate word, so you need that space in there. Otherwise, it's
not really any different. If I'd used {-ta'} in place of {rIntaH}, it would
still not affect the whole structure one bit.
>=lop 'e' tIvbe' vIlHem-tel puqloD quvmoHbe'lu'mo'
>It's a somewhat tragic ending, but somehow, I think it could be more tragic.
>Then again, I'm evaluating this by human standards.
Yes. Keep in mind, that despite this story's Terran heritage, it is really
Klingon literature.
>That was a blockbuster, Guido! Excellent intelligible style, quite sound
>grammar, and the content was good too. Congrats!
Thanks so much. That'll be my first submission to the Klingon Writing
Project. I hope this encourages others to write more Hol as well. One thing
that'll help the 'Klingon movement' is a substantial collection of
literature.
>--
>Nick.
I'd still appreciate feedback, if anyone else has any sugestions. I know it
can never be perfect. In a year or so, I'll probably look back and think to
myself, "Ya know, if I had done vIlHem-tel now, I would do this or that
differently". But that's the way it goes.
Guido#1, Leader of All Guidos