tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Dec 17 12:17:47 1997
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Re: KLBC:Raktajino
[email protected] wrote:
>
> qoretlh writes:
> > Call me qoretlh. I've been lurking on the list for months, and now
> > it's time to stop lurking and actually post something.
>
> majQa'!
>
> > BTW,
> > regarding the qep'Hommey, I hold one in my living room nearly every
> > Sunday night here in Vegas.
>
> Daj. cha' ben VegasDaq tlhIngan yupma'Daq jIjaH. pa' bISaH'a'?
> tlhIngan Hol neH jatlhbogh be' jIH.
>
> Interesting. Two years ago I went to a Klingon festival in Vegas.
> Were you there? I was the woman who spoke only Klingon.
Yes I was there, that was you? You need to come back in 98, it will be
the 5th annual Feast.
>
> > Here is my attempt at the labeling on a bag of Rakjino.
> >
> > tlhIngan wo'Daq tIv raqtajIno.
> > RAktajino is enjoyed in the Klingon Empire.
>
> See the beginning of chapter 6 for a discussion of Klingon word
> order. In each clause the Object precedes the Verb which precedes
> the Subject (OVS). Everything else (adverbs, locatives, etc.) goes
> before the clause.
>
> This first sentence has an added complication, however, in that the
> subject of the correct Klingon sentence is indefinite. The verb
> {tIv} -- the correct verb -- means "enjoy" not "be enjoyed" and
> {?raqtajIno} is the object, the thing that is enjoyed. (I think
> raktajino may have been canonized with some spelling, but I'll
> address the grammar and let someone else come up with that
> reference). So what is the subject? It's kind of indefinite.
> Klingon has a way to express this, with the verb suffix {-lu'}. Read
>
> tlhIngan wo'Daq raqtajIno tIvlu'
> "Raktajino is enjoyed in the Klingon Empire."
>
> > Qa'vIn wIv wa'DIch joghDaq 'oHnom moj.
> > It is quickly becoming the coffee to choose in the
> > First Quadrant.
>
> Never capitalize a letter in Klingon that isn't already capitalized,
> even for a proper noun or the beginning of a sentence.
I think my computer did it automaticly. Sorry about that.
>
> Klingon has many suffixes and prefixes that are added to words, but
> words aren't combined randomly: affixing the adverb {nom} to the
> pronoun {'oH} makes no more sense than writing "itfast" in English.
>
> See the section on numbers in chapter 5. To say "first quadrant" the
> word for first goes *after* the word for quadrant. {jogh wa'DIch}.
> And then the locative suffix goes on the modifying word, not the
> noun.
>
> To say "the coffee to choose" you can use that indefinite subject
> with {-lu'} again. You aren't saying specifically WHO is chosing the
> coffee, just that someone is. {qa'vIn wIvlu'} "the coffee is chosen"
> Now use {-bogh} (the type-9 verb suffix) to make a subordinate
> clause: {qa'vIn wIvlu'bogh} "the coffee which is chosen" "the coffee
> to choose." Perhaps even add the type-2 verb suffix {-nIS} (read
> about all these verb suffixes in the chapter on verbs), to get
> {qa'vIn wIvnISlu'bogh} "the coffee one must choose."
>
> To the verb {moj} I add the continuous aspect suffix {-lI'}.
> Continuous, because you are talking about an action in process: it
> "is becoming." And I choose {-lI'} over the other continuous aspect
> suffix {-taH} because becoming the first choice is a definable ending
> point which you claim your product is definitely progressing towards.
>
> The subject "it" is fairly far from its antecedent -- the word that
> "it" stands in for -- and as this is advertising copy anyway, lets be
> redundant and say the name of the product again.
>
> Recalling from above the sentence order of
> <everything else> <object> <verb> <subject>
> you get:
>
> {jogh wa'DIchDaq nom qa'vIn wIvnISlu'bogh mojlI' raqtajIno}
> "In the first quadrant raktajino is quickly becoming the coffee of
> choice." (lit: "the coffee one should choose").
>
> Complicated? Somewhat. What may seem like a straightforward
> sentence in English isn't necessarily as straightforward as you
> think. Before you translate, work out what the subject, object verb
> and other are, and if it's complicated to do in English, maybe you
> don't want to tackle it in Klingon yet.
>
> > Qej SuvwI'pu' yonmoH qa'vIn.
> > This coffee satisfies grouch warriors.
>
> I assume you meant "grouchy warriors." That's {qej} not {Qej}.
> Have a look at the section on adjectives, in the verbs chapter.
> Klingon doesn't exactly have adjectives, we have verbs that describe
> states or conditions. When those verbs are used to say someone "is"
> something, e.g. {qej SuvwI'} "The warrior is grouchy" they go before
> their subjects, like any other verb. When they are used as
> adjectives, e.g. to say "the grouchy warriors" they go after the noun
> being described {SuvwI'pu' qej}.
>
> The only thing else you need to add is the syllable for "this." It's
> a noun suffix, {-vam}.
>
> {SuvwI'pu' qej yonmoH qa'vInvam}
>
> > That is all for now.
>
> It was just the right amount. See if you can write some more
> sentences using OVS word order and some of those suffixes.
>
> -Qov
Thank you for the input. Obviously I have a ways to go, but as this was
a first attempt, I'll continue.