tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Dec 28 21:57:00 1997
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Re: KLBC -- jIlIHegh (extreme beginner)
>Date: Fri, 26 Dec 1997 20:36:58 -0800 (PST)
>From: "William H. Martin" <[email protected]>
>
>Welcome, notjISaH. Since you knew to put KLBC in your header,
>I'll assume you already know about Beginners' Grammarians and
>KLBC, etc. Thanks for providing the English as well as Klingon
>stuff. It helps a lot when I try to help you with your writing.
Welcome from me too. I am Grammarian on the list, not just for beginners,
which means I don't often chime in on the BG, but there was a point or two
I needed to mention.
>On Thu, 25 Dec 1997 22:27:28 -0800 (PST) Falling
><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> ghomvamDaq jIchu'. DaHjaj jIHvaD TKD
>> nobpu' loDnI'wIj.
>
>valqu'ba' loDnI'lIj. All this is fine with one little comment.
Well, and another one. charghwI' was undoubtedly blinded by your
*impressive* command after a single day's study (and I can hardly blame
him!), but -wIj/-lIj is not the right suffix here, unless you're not very
fond of your brother.
Possessive suffixes in first and second persons (my, your, our, etc. but
not his, their) have a special form for things possessed which are speaking
beings. "My brother" is properly "loDnI'wI'", not "loDnI'wIj." Similarly,
charghwI''s "your brother" should have been "loDnI'lI'." Using the
-wIj/-lIj series of suffixes when the other is called for implies a certain
derogatory tone (though technically it is grammatically correct).
>> jIwebeghpu'be' 'e' vItul.
>
>This is the worst mistake you've made so far. Realize that it is
>remarkable that you wrote this much for your first attempt and
>only made these minor errors. You should be proud.
bo'DaghHom Dalo', charghwI'. (an idiomatic expression, using a word not in
the Dictionary, but given in a later book by Okrand. Basically it means
"You're understating the situation!" "You should be proud" is faint praise
indeed!
>"Hello." [Note that "Hello" was something one yelled at someone
>else across a wide expanse in order to get their attention. We
>started using it as a greeting when the telephone was invented,
>because we were yelling at someone we knew was miles away.]
Alexander Graham Bell never liked "Hello" for this. He preferred "Ahoy!"
as the telephone greeting.
>> Probably I
>> haven't got a good enough grasp of the language to be messing w/ this, but I'd
>> love it if someone'd give me an opinion, or point me in the right
>> direction...or even just tell me I'm a moron and then do it correctly... =)
>
>You are not a moron. If you have really only had TKD for a day
>and you are already this good, there are probably half a dozen
>people now on this list who want to shoot you.
You bet. Be very proud, notjISaH.
~mark