tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Mar 09 02:49:42 1994
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Re: Qaghqoq
>On the other hand, we *do* want to try to some kind of consensus, hence the
>back-and-forth on these points and occasional sighs and calls for help from
>Okrand. We don't want to see a splintered language that each group of
>three people speaks the same way but no group thinks the other makes any
>sense. We're doing our best for that. What would you prefer to see?
>
>>charghwI'
>
>
>~mark
I personally believe that we as (mostly) native English speakers are much too
much English-oriented in our speaking/writing of tlhIngan Hol. Even several
people who seem quite skilled in using the language feel they have to resort
to translating all the Hol they see before they attempt to digest it. It is
much much much much much better for the learning process to try NOT to
translate, but to think directly in the language. Progress is sometimes a bit
slower this way, but in the end, one comes out with a resoundingly better
understanding of the language.
Now, back to my complaint that Hol is becoming too Anglicized. Even I have
been guilty of this. Everyone has once in a while. In particular I think Nick
and charghwI' are the best at freeing their usage of Hol from the restraints
of English. But they too have faults. Nick's Klingon is sometimes too far
from English to be understood clearly, and as for you, charghwI', in my
opinion, you might want to try pushing yourself a bit harder in learning the
language. You have an excellent understanding of Hol, but what you should do
is force knowledge into that rigid cranium of yours. Memorize that
vocabulary! Learn those grammar rules! You can do it! But you must inhale the
information. You mustn't expect it to soak up into you. I made that mistake
in the past, in my lazier moods, I thought letting myself gradually catch on
sounded like such a good idea. Don't take this the wrong way. This is just
friendly advice, from one tlhIngan to another. And the same goes for the rest
of you. One thing I've found you can do to increase your vocabulary is read
all the way thru the vocab section of TKD, saying every word aloud and its
equivalent. This is time-consuming, but it's well worth it. You'll see. Doing
this several times will teach you at least forty new words. But also, it will
give you some idea as to which words are available. You can recognize people
who aren't entirely familiar with the lexicon because they use many redundant
constructions that are better expressed with other words that they might not
be aware of. For example, one might know the word {qoH} but not {Dogh}.
Saying {qoH ghaH} is just a rather redundant and less Klingonesque way to say
{Dogh}. Also, knowing the grammar is essential. If ever you are unsure in the
slightest bit about any part of the grammar, look over that section in TKD.
This is just intended to encourage those of you (like charghwI') who have
long wanted to increase your tlhIngan Hol skills, but just never got around
to it. I would like to see more Hol from everyone. (Including myself).
BTW, has anyone read or even started reading my William Tell story? I would
very much like feed-back on it.
ANYWAYS, I've gotten myself so sidetracked....
What I would really really really really REALLY like to see is use of
tlhIngan Hol *outside* the English-speaking community.
International/interlinguistic communication in tlhIngan Hol would greatly
enrich and expand our understanding of the language. Has anyone done anything
in the way of putting together a book designed to explain tlhIngan Hol to
speakers of other Terran languages? Would this violate some sort of
copyright? (I wouldn't think so, since it seems impossible to copyright a
language, even an artificial one).
WHEW! I think I've written enough for now. <*thud!*>
Guido#1--