tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Feb 23 17:32:47 1996

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Re: KLBC:Commants on my sentances.

Chris Lipscombe writes:
>I translated these con the train the other day.
>Please can you commant on them.

I'd be delighted to comment on your sentences, Chris!

>It is an honor to have Klingon blood.
>tlhIngan 'Iw ghajneS

I read this as:  "He is honored to have Klingon blood."

The suffix {-neS} takes a bit of work to use correctly, but I think
your usage here is perfectly fine.  However, any time you try to
translate "it is [something] to..." or "it is [something] that..."
you're in difficult territory.  English often turns sentences around
like this, putting the pronoun "it" at the front and stating what "it"
is later, using an entire sentence as the main sentence's subject.
While Klingon has a way to use a sentence as an *object* (TKD 6.2.5,
the words {'e'} and {net}), we aren't told how to use a sentence as
a *subject*.

There is a tool that can help a lot here, though.  The verb suffix
{-lu'} (TKD 4.2.5) says that the subject is indefinite; it's usually
translated using the impersonal "one". If we add it to your sentence,
we get:
  {tlhIngan 'Iw ghajlu'neS}
  "One is honored to have Klingon blood."
A sentence using {-lu'} can often be translated using "passive voice."
This would give "it honors one to have Klingon blood," which isn't very
far at all from "it is an honor to have Klingon blood."

>I hate train journeys.
>jI'nIy lengmey jImuS

Since {muS} has an object here, you need to use the verb prefix {vI-}.
"I detest the journeys of the train."  This sounds more like the train's
trip itself than the "journey by train" which I think you mean.  I think
the problem here comes from the fact that English sentences are stuffed
with nouns, and the Klingon vocabulary and grammar are at their best when
using verbs.  Instead of saying you hate a "thing" (the train journey),
you can try saying you hate "doing something" (travelling on trains).
How about
  {"train" vIlIgh 'e' vImuS}?
  "I hate that I ride a train."
If you really want to focus on the trip, you can say
  {"train" vIlIghtaHvIS jIleng 'e' vImuS}
  "While I am riding a train, I hate that I travel."

>I uses <jI'nIy> for train as in PK somebody rides the jI'nIy and the
>>backgorund noise sounds like a train.

I've never heard _Power Klingon_, but in _Conversational Klingon_ the
word used is {lupwI'}, translated as "jitney."  The American Heritage
Dictionary says a jitney is "a small motor vehicle, such as a bus or van,
that transports passengers on a route for a small fare."  Maybe a train
could be called a {lupwI'tlhegh}?

-- ghunchu'wI'               batlh Suvchugh vaj batlh SovchoH vaj

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