tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Dec 14 21:53:47 1997

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

'etyen jang Qov:
>}Holmey DuDghach'a' 'oH *Malta* Hol'e'
>
>I kind of like this one, but Marc Okrand has told us (not in TKD) that
>putting {-ghach} on a bare verb is a 'marked' usage, so {DuDghach'a'} is
>something like "a big mixation."  To avoid this effect, perhaps
>{DuDpu'ghach'a'} would mean mixture.  After all, you want a noun for the
>result of having mixed, not the mixing itself.

I like the word {tlhoQ} "conglomeration" here.

>Describing something you know well in simple terms is the best way to learn
>this stuff.  I invite anyone who has trouble thinking of what to write to
>describe to me, not through translating any history text, but in original
>Klingon words, like 'etyen's account, some event in the history of his or
>her country, region, or ancestors.  If the vocabulary for what you want to
>say isn't there, back off and go more general.

This is very good advice.  If you know what it is you want to say, you're
a lot less likely to get hung up on trying to translate a particular word
or phrase that was written by someone else.  Tackling translations should
be one of the *last* steps in learning a new language, in my opinion.  Be
bold -- express your own thoughts.

-- ghunchu'wI'

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