tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Jan 28 09:49:02 1996

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Re: KLBC> Mixed Nits

Someone tell me when this should be broken into multiple threads. It's getting 
kinda bulky...

>David Wood writes:

>>I was trying to use the only "to be" form I knew: in the same way that
>>"tlhIngan jIH" would be "I am a klingon," I thought that "vuDmeyraj nuq?"
>>would be "What are your opinions?" Unless jIH and the other pronouns
>>are also verbs...
>
>They're treated like verbs when using them to mean "to be".  They can
>have verb suffixes; the audiotape Conversational Klingon gives as an
>example {tlhIngan jIHbe'} "I am not a Klingon" (to be used as a call for
>help, indicating that maybe you don't enjoy the pain you are suffering).
>I don't know any canon usage of {nuq} as a verb, though there is support
>for {'Iv} as a verb: the canon {SoH 'Iv} would be backwards otherwise.

(remembering that passage of the tape) Oh, they do, don�t they? Dopey me...
It sure lends support to the old �Klingon is verb-oriented� paradigm...

And as for no canon usage of �nuq� as a verb, consider that there aren�t
many causes or reasons to use it that way. One sentence comes to mind: �Who
here is not a Klingon?� And if �nuq� isn�t usable as a verb, then I have no
idea how to translate that, except as �naDevDaq tlhIngan nuqbe�?�

>>"Be honest, but say 'I like them'" vIjatlh vInIDpu'. lughbe'chu' moHaq.
>>jI'oy'!
>
>vaj moHaq lughchu' Daja'nIS.  yIbuDQo'.

lu�: SuyuDHa�, �ach <vIparHa�> bojatlh.
DoghmeH mu�tlheghvam Dapar.

/* Whine ON
FWIW: I couldn�t find verbs for �important,� �significant,� or �relevant� which 
I could reverse with Ha�. The above phrase works much better, but I would still 
like to have the others when I need them.
Whine OFF */

>When using a sentence as an object, you must use {'e'} or {net} to refer
>the the first sentence unless the second verb is {neH}.  Here, you need to
>say {"..." vIjatlh 'e' vInID}.  Note also that in a construction like this,
>the second verb cannot have a type 7 "aspect" suffix (see TKD 6.2.5, page
>66, about a third of the way down the page).  {-pu'} seems inappropriate
>here anyway.  I don't think you intend to indicate that you are finished
>trying; you probably mean merely that you tried.
>
>>reH latlh qabDaq qul tuj law' Hoch tuj puS!
>
>(Forgive me if this is a "well-known" replacement proverb; I've never seen
>this sentence before, so I have to read this as I see it.)
   (Progressive destructivist translation deleted)
>"Fire is always hottest on anothers' (someone else's) face."  Okay, fine.

(Yeppers. One of the saying from Power Klingon which didn�t make the quick 
reference card. I can�t believe nobody here used it until now...)

>Why did you write {yItu'taH}?  Did you perhaps mean {yItu'qa'}?

Stylistic whimsey: I was thinking �Note,� and then �Note some more.� For that, 
-taH seemed more appropriate than -qa�.

meqwIj yIyajbe�. maj. nI<envy> juppu�wI�.

-- David Wood, Freelance Computer Consultant
("Freelance" is just a cheesy way of saying "Irregularly Employed")

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