tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Jan 26 19:49:49 1996
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Re: KLBC -- tense
- From: [email protected] (Alan Anderson)
- Subject: Re: KLBC -- tense
- Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 22:51:19 -0500
K'Daq writes:
>MajQa' !
It isn't like you don't already have enough things to remember, but
try to watch your spelling/capitalization. Paradoxically, those of
us who can come close to reading Klingon at a glance have a harder
time dealing with miscapitalized words than those who have to look
up each and every word. Try to 1mag1n3 how w3 mu5t 533 1t. :-)
> I thank you both. It has become clear to me in the last few days that I've
>been making the mistake of thinking english and "plugging in" Klingon. I
>think I'm beginning to see the need to "think" as a Klingon first......then
>find the words. I hope my next attempt will be more successful.
Many beginners take a very long time before recognizing this simple fact.
It is actually harder to translate from English to Klingon than it is to
compose in Klingon to begin with, because the grammar is so different. I
encourage people to concentrate less on learning the vocabulary and more
on understanding the grammar. If you can put words together in the right
order before looking up their translation, the job of writing in Klingon
is much easier. Anyone can use the dictionary to translate *words*, but
complete sentences require a knowledge of grammar. Context and culture
also play a big part in understanding what is written, which is why there
aren't any computer programs that can translate entire English sentences
well, much less Klingon.
To practice the grammar, you must read correctly written Klingon. Almost
any Klingon post on this list longer than ten lines is likely to have been
written by a skilled speaker of the language. Read and translate as many
of them as you can, and you will slowly but surely come to understand the
grammar. You will also automatically learn vocabulary; your brain will
remember common words just to keep you from having to go through the effort
of looking them up.
-- ghunchu'wI' batlh Suvchugh vaj batlh SovchoH vaj