tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Jan 24 20:19:19 1996

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Re: KLBC -- **NEWBIE ALERT!**

SajQa' writes:
><flame control on!>

You'll get no flames from me due to your grammar.  I'm here to give
help, not heat. :-)

>nuqneH ghunchu'wI'

Well, since you asked, :-) I want to help you learn the Klingon language.
In order to do that, I'll gladly critique anything you write.  You know
the drill...

>SajQa' pongwIj.

This is missing a verb.  Klingon uses pronouns as verbs to say that a
thing "is" some other thing -- see The Klingon Dictionary, section 6.3,
"To be".  I would say {pongwIj 'oH SajQa''e'}.  The suffix {-'e'} must
be placed on the subject of this kind of sentence.

> qepvam jIchu'.

This is missing... something.  There isn't a simple translation for
"I 'am new to' this group" (we refer to the participants of the mailing
list as a {ghom} "group"; a {qep} "meeting" implies a face-to-face
physical encounter).  You might say {ghomvamDaq jIchu'} "I am new *in*
the group" and express the same meaning.

> mob jInID HaD,

This is missing a lot of grammar.  First, "I try to study" is rendered
in Klingon as {jIHaD 'e' jInID} "I try that I study."  See TKD section
6.2.5, "Sentences as objects".  Second, you have to do something with
the verb "be alone" in order to tie it into the rest of the sentence.
Consider {jImobtaHvIS jIHaD 'e' jInID} "I try that I study while I am
alone."  However, there is also an adverb {nIteb} meaning "alone, acting
alone", so you can say {nIteb jIHaD 'e' jInID}.

>jIneH qeq tlhej latlhmey

It's time to review the fundamental structure of a Klingon sentence.
The object comes first, then the verb, then the subject.  See section
6.1 -- no, don't just see it, *read* it!  You have put words together
in such a fashion that I have very little idea of what you mean. "I want,
he practices, others accompany [him]."  If I look at each word by itself,
I see "I want practice accompany others."  Maybe you intended to say
"I want to practice with others"?  Klingon grammar would make that
{jIqeqmeH latlhmey vItlhej vIneH} "I want to accompany others in order to
practice."

> HaD tu'lu'be' vay'

I can't parse this one.  "Anybody, one doesn't find, he studies."
No, this doesn't make sense to me at all.

>Dun qeqlI'!

This means "your (language-using) practice is great!"  Based on your
other attempts, I gather you meant to say that "practicing is great",
right?  In order to use a verb as a noun which refers to the action
of the verb, you can put the suffix {-ghach} on it.  See the Addendum
to The Klingon Dictionary, section 4.2.9.  This would make the phrase
{Dun qeqlI'ghach}.  The overuse of {-ghach} is discouraged, however,
because the Klingon vocabulary focuses more on verbs and actions than
on nouns, and it's more in keeping with the spirit of the language to
find ways to rephrase what you want in order to avoid making nouns.

>Qapla'

You are overreaching your present skills by quite a lot.  Slow down.
Take some time to read what others are writing, and try to get a handle
on the way a Klingon sentence is put together.  Make some simple, one-
verb sentences like "I am happy" or "My head hurts."  Learn the correct
order of OBJECT-VERB-SUBJECT.

>SajQa'

>I sure hope I go something right, besides my name.

Holtej recognized you, so it seems you did at least get your name right. :-)

>I was a lurker, many moons ago, but had to drop off the list for a while,
>while I brought a new life form onto Terran <g>.

I've been a member of the list for just over a year, and I don't recall
encountering you.  It's apparently been quite a while -- welcome back.

>I have trouble remembering the format of the sentences. Hopefuly with
>practice, it will get easier.

I guarantee that it will get easier with practice.  Hopefully, you will
have feedback so that you will be practicing correctly!  It would be a
real shame to become skilled at speaking wrongly. :-)

><Flame control off>

I hope you didn't find the protection necessary.

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

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