tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Dec 06 14:58:48 1997

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Re: [KLBC] New student joins the list. (tetlh muv ghojwI' chu')



At 09:03 97-12-01 -0800, you wrote:
}Hi everyone. I'm new on the thlIngan Hol mailing list although I've been
}lurking around for some time now.My name is Etienne ('etyen for
}juppu'wI' thlIngan) and I'm currently on lesson 9 of the Klingon postal
}course. I'm
}now going to try to introduce myself in tlhIngan Hol. Please correct me if I
}make any blunders!

Sorry about the delay, Etienne.  People haven't not responded to your 
message because we're not glad you've joined us, it's just that they are
obeying the KLBC rules and holding off answering until I, the current
'Beginners' Grammarian,' have.  And I'm a few days behind.

} qaghItlhneS,

{ghItlh} is an awkward word.  It means write, but it doesn't carry 
the same connotations as English "write."  It implies enscribing, 
marking, the physical process of making marks appear.  It doesn't 
refer to the content or the meaning the way English "writing a story" 
"writing your mother" do.  To say instead?  The most Klingon thing 
would be to skip the salutation and get right to what you want to 
say.  Or perhaps {SamuvneS} -- which reminds me to point out that 
{qa-} indicates you are addressing one person, when really you are 
addressing the list at large.  Skip down a few lines in the table to 
the prefix for " I - you (plural)."   I'm guessing from your first 
name that you know the distinction between "tu" and "vous" in French. 
Same idea, except Klingons would never use {tlhIH} in singualr to be 
polite.

} pongwIj 'oH 'etyen'e' 'ej 

In more direct order: {'etyen 'oH pongwIj'e'}.  "My name is Etienne," as
opposed to "Etienne is my name."  Same Object Verb Subject applies even for
the copula verb to be.

} "Malta" SepDaq jIyIn. [My name is Etienne and I live in the island of 
Malta] 

That's a good way to get around the lack of a word for island, yet still set
off Malta as a geographical region.  In Klingon the object of {yIn} isn't
the place lived in.  {yIn} is like "viver" in French.  The verb for
"habiter" is {Dab} only it acts more like the English word "inhabit" -- the
place lived is the direct object of the verb.  (This verb isn't in TKD, it's
new, in Klingon for the Galactic Traveler, just one of those things to kee
you on your toes. :)

So:

Malta Sep vIDab.

} juStaHvIS wej jar thlIngan Hol vIHaD
[I've been studying Klingon for three months]

Normally we would use the verb {qaS}, "occur," to describe the passage of
time. The verb {juS} means pass in the sense of "overtake" and Klingon does
not tend to use physical metaphors with time.
 
} tugh tlhIngan Hol vIghojqu' 'e' vItul
} [I hope I'll soon learn Klingon well!]

DaH Daghojqu'.

This means "learn well" only in the sense that your learning is intense and
well executed.  A better translation would be "I hope I'll really learn
Klingon soon."  Since you are already writing it well you must be learning
it well.  I think: {tugh tlhIngan Hol vIjatlhqu'choH 'e' vItul} expresses
your meaning better, something like "I hope soon to really speak Klingon."

} Qatlhqu' 'e' vISovbe' 'ach jIvumqang
}[I didn't know it would be so difficult but I'm willing to work!] 

bIvumbejtaH.  bIDoj.  bIqeqtaHchugh bIjatlhchu'.

Malta Sep De' vIghajbe' jIH.  
MaltaDaq *Italy* Hol *England* Hol *Malta* Hol je jatlh nganpu', qar'a'?
maHvaD SeplIj yIDel. 

Qov     [email protected]
Beginners' Grammarian                 



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