tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Sep 11 20:19:52 1996

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(KLBC) Re: nIDwIj wa'DIch


Hi there, and welcome!  I am trI'Qal, the Beginners' Grammarian for the
list.  I am here almost exclusively to help you with your grammar, and to
answer any questions you might have.

Please notice that I have changed the SUBJECT line of your post very
slightly.  I will be sending you a private letteer shortly after this one
that will explain what the KLBC is, and better explains who I am, and so on.


At 04:17 AM 9/3/96 -0700, [Volodiya A Reid] wrote:
>jIpongegh Volodiya.  AlaskaDaq jIyIn.


This was a very nice first attempt at using tlhIngan Hol!  maj!

You do have a few errors, though, and it's my job to point them out to you.
{{:(

Unfortunately, your one grammatical error here was something we probably
should have int eh FAQ as a warning:  the use of the verb <pong> has not
been fully described to us, so we aren't really sure how to use it.  I'm not
really going to say this first sentence is right or wrong--just that this is
a oft-debated issue on the list.  Much as I personally don't like using the
"to be" contrsutction (espeically with a noun that is also a verb!) until we
have clarification how to use the verb <pong> properly, it would be best to
skirt the issue, and use the noun instead:

       "Volodiya" 'oH pongwIj'e'
        "My name is Volodiya"

Well, your name, not mine. {{;)

I'd also like to point out to you that there IS a type on page 35 of your
Klingon Dictionary (KD, or TKD):  the suffix for "oneself" which you used
(correctly!!!!) in your original sentence is listed as -egh, but in all the
examples it is -'egh.  The -'egh is correct; this suffix begins wtih that
wonderful-hard-to-pronounce glottal stop (at least, it is hard for native
English speakers, like me to pronounce... you might be better with it, if
English is not your native tongue...).

The rest of this first line is very nice and all (unquestionably)
grammatically correct.  The only two things I could ask for is that you
"flag" non-Klingon words words (like your name, and "Alaska") with ""s, []s,
**s, or any other character you would like that will clearly mark these
words as something that I should not be looking up in my KD; I would also
ask that in the future, please put just one sentence on each line--it makes
it a bit easier to respond to your posts.


>ghojwI' jIH.  holmey vIHad.


Very, very nicely done!  majQa'!  Give yourself a pat on the back for this one!

I have only two comments, and neither of them are *grammar* per se:

1.  Make sure you get your capitals correct.  Some of the letters in the
Klingon Language ARE case-sensitive (q and Q, for example... if you wanted
help, and yelled <qaH>, I dount you would get much help!), so it is rather
important that you get into the habit of watching what is capitalized and
what is not right away.

2.  While <ghojwI' jIH> is grammatically correct, and is perfectly
understandable, many people believe that the Klingon "style" is more
verb-centered--in your sentence, you have turned a verb into a noun, and
then used the "to be" structure.  If you have no other way to say something,
then this is fine... however, 9 times out of 10 (perhaps even more than
that!), if you do this, you can use your verb as a VERB:

        jIghojlI'.
        "I am in the processes of learning."

or:

        tlhIngan Hol vIghojlI'.
        "I am in the processes of learning Klingon."

or even:

        tlhInga Hol vIghojlI' neH.
        "I am only in the process of learning Klingon."

>qatlho' 


Another nice sentence!

Please note that here, you are thanking just one person (I presume me, since
I am the BG {{:) ).

If you want to thank *everyone*, then you need to use the verb suffix for
"you, plural":  <Satlho'>


'ej qay'be'.  {{:)

DaH SoHvaD jIlIH'eghnIS.
trI'Qal HoD jIH.
batlh tlhInan wo' Duj <<lIy So'>> vIra'.
'ach naDev ghojwI'pu' vIQaH neH.
bImISchugh, vaj HItlhob!
chaq QIt qajang, 'ach qajangbejqu'.


--tQ


Translations:
------------

And it is not a problem. :)

Now I need to introduce myself for you.
I am Captain T'rkal
I have the honour of commanding the Imperial Klingon Vessel "Hidden Comet".
But here, I just help beginners.
If youa re confused, then ask me!
I may answer slowly, but I WILL answer!


---
HoD trI'Qal, tlhIngan wo' Duj lIy So' ra'wI'
Captain T'rkal, Commander IKV Hidden Comet (Klingon speaker and net junkie!)
HaghtaHbogh tlhIngan yIvoqQo'!  toH... qatlh HaghtaH Qanqor HoD???
monlI'bogh tlhInganbe' yIvoqQo'!  SoHvaD monlI' trI'Qal...

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