tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon May 15 07:23:45 1995
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Re: KLBC: a question
According to [email protected]:
>
> Please, I'm a beginner to tlhIngan Hol
> and I want to ask a simple question:
> Does the following sentence make some sense?
>
> HIch vIlo' baHtaH jIH
>
> I just wanted to say: I'm firing with a gun.
Good try. It looks like you've been watching us handle some
complex problems concerning the English word "with" and you've
tried to integrate those ideas into your translation. I suspect
that in this case, you didn't need to, though I'll offer you
a few different approaches to fixing this.
First, instead of saying, "I fired with a gun," just say, "I
fired a gun."
HIch vIbaH.
While we don't have a lot of guidance about the details of how
every verb uses an object, I think this one is safe.
If you really want to say, "I'm firing with a gun," then the
literal translation becomes, "While I am firing, I use a gun."
Better yet, you might say, "In order that I fire, I use a gun."
The second version is better because it links the purpose of
the use of the gun with the firing. The first version merely
says that the two are happening at the same time. You could
also say, "While I am firing [a cannon], I use a gun [to pick
my nose]." See? It is better to make the link more related to
purpose than just happening at the same time.
Also remember that you want to use prefixes on the verbs to say
who is doing what. You don't want to use pronouns for this,
unless you are somehow using a pronoun as a verb (not good in
this sentence) or just to stress the person.
jIbaHmeH HIch vIlo'.
If you want to add that emphasis on the subject, you could say,
jIbaHmeH HIch vIlo' jIH.
"*I* use a pistol in order that I fire."
If you really want to stress the continuity of the action,
then you can say:
jIbaHmeH HIch vIlo'taH.
You probably don't need this, unless you really do this a lot,
and then it is good to use an adverbial to explain the nature
of your continuity:
pIj jIbaHmeH HIch vIlo'taH.
reH jIbaHmeH HIch vIlo'taH.
> bye bye
> SarIn
The only real "mistakes" you made were that you had two main
verbs in the same sentence and on the second one, you used a
pronoun to indicate the subject instead of a verb prefix. You
needed to make one of the verbs dependent so they could both
fit in the same sentence. Suffixes like {-taHvIS} or {-meH} can
do this. "While I was walking" is not a complete sentence. It
can join with "I chew gum" to form a complete sentence. "In
order that I walk" is not a complete sentence. It can join with
"I travel along the road." "I walk" is a complete sentence and
doesn't fit with another independent verb in a single sentence
under normal circumstances.
I hope I haven't confused you with too many things at once.
Qapla'
charghwI'
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