tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Jan 11 15:15:58 1997

Back to archive top level

To this year's listing



[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]

RE: nuq neH



January 09, 1997 5:56 PM EST, jatlh jajlo':

> nuq neH.

{nuqneH} is one word.

> tlhIngan HolwIj Dayaj vItul!

This sentence has more than one main verb.  It's actually made up of two 
sentences!  "I hope you understand my Klingon language," and "I hope that."  
This is the time to use a sentence-as-object sentence, as described in TKD 
section 6.2.5.

> Jajlo' pongwIj,

You may spell your name however you like, of course, but be aware that no 
sound in Klingon is represented by the capital letter {J}.  The Klingon word 
"dawn" must be spelled with a lowercase {j}.  {jajlo'}.  Still, I rather like 
it when names are capitalized (as long as they don't begin with a {q}, since 
you then probably don't need to mark it as a name.  Not all names can do this, 
though.  {Holtej} and I, {SuStel}, for example, cannot capitalize the first 
letter of our names, since they are already capitals!

Please go over TKD section 6.3 on how to say "to be."  You are obviously 
trying to say "My name is Jajlo'," and this will come out as {Jajlo' 'oH 
pongwIj'e'}.

For your information, we have another way to say this: {jIHvaD Jajlo' ponglu'} 
"I am called Jajlo'."

> 'ej wa'Hu' SuStel je Mark vIjatlh.

When joining nouns (or names, which will be acting as nouns), the word {je} 
must go *after* the last noun.  {SuStel Mark je} "SuStel and Mark."

On this list, we have worked out that the only object we've ever seen on 
{jatlh} is a language.  Considering that the translation in TKD for {jatlh} is 
"speak," and not "speak to," it's probable that you cannot say {SuStel Mark je 
vIjatlh} for "I spoke to SuStel and Mark."  Rather, you can make use of the 
noun suffix {-vaD}:  {SuStelvaD MarkvaD je jIjatlh} "I spoke to SuStel and 
Mark."  "I spoke.  The beneficiaries of my speaking were SuStel and Mark."

> (poH'a' naDev
> jISo''egh.)

When you refer to a time at which something happens, you stick the time at the 
front of the sentence.  However, this does not refer to the *period* which the 
action takes place in, only the time at which it occurs.  Your sentence above 
means something like "At a very long period of time I hide myself here."  This 
is not quite right.  What you want to say is that you were hiding yourself 
here *during* a great period of time.  Consider the verb {qaS}: {qaStaHvIS 
poH'a' naDev jISo''egh}.  "While a very long period of time occurs, I hide 
myself here."

I remember you saying that you were a lurker, which is why I have skipped my 
usual "Hi!  I'm SuStel . . ." speech!

> Daq QIchwI' vIparHa'.

Here I believe you meant "I like the Talker site."  (Consider putting English 
translations in your posts, until you feel sure that you're saying the right 
things.  That way, I won't have to guess.)  Mark Shoulson has named the page 
{peja'chuq!}, so you could simply name that: {<peja'chuq!> Daq vIparHa'}.

The main problem with your sentence is that {QIchwI'} means "my speech, which 
is a being capable of using language."  Yes, speech refers to the process of 
communicating through verbal language, but it's not the being using the 
language.  You wouldn't call vocal sounds "he" or "she," would you?  
{QIchwIj}.

Unless you were trying to use the verb suffix {-wI'} "thing which does/one who 
does"?  {QIch} is a noun, and cannot take a verb suffix.  However, "talker" is 
easily rendered as {jatlhwI'}.  Still, this really isn't accurate for the 
Talker site.  It doesn't talk, it allows people to talk.  How about {jatlhmeH 
Daq} "place for talking"?

> tlhIngan Hol vIghojrup.

tlhIngan Hol DaghojchoHba'pu'!

> tugh qajatlhbej.

Again, you probably can't say "I definitely speak you soon."  You need {-vaD}: 
{tugh SoHvaD jIjatlhbej}. "I will speak to you soon."  If you are talking to 
more than one person, however, you must say {tugh tlhIHvaD jIjatlhbej}.

> ***lIjbe' ghItlh!***

Was this supposed to be "Don't forget to write"?  This is another 
sentence-as-object problem.  Also, there's an imperative here, which needs 
special treatment.  Let's go through it.

"Don't forget it!"  You have the right verb, {lIj}.  Now, you need an 
imperative prefix on the verb.  Look on the imperative prefix table in TKD.  
If the object is "it," (I'll explain why I chose this object in a moment), 
then the correct prefix is {yI-}.  {yIlIj} is "Forget it!"

To negate a command, you must use the verb suffix {-Qo'}.  You cannot use 
{-be'}.  (See TKD section on Rovers.)  "Don't forget it!" is {yIlIjQo'}.

I chose "it" as the object of the sentence, because we're going to use a 
sentence-as-object construction.  For that, the object of the second verb must 
always be third person, singular.  What's the object going to be?  Well, what 
aren't we supposed to forget?  To write.  {ghItlh} actually refers to putting 
characters on a paper, so I'm going to choose another verb.  How about {Qum} 
"communicate."  That's what we mean, right?

Now, we're trying to say what we're not supposed to forget.  There are no 
infinitives in Klingon, so you don't just say "To communicate."  State it as a 
complete sentence: "You communicate."  {bIQum}.

Now, add this to the other sentence, using TKD section 6.2.5: {bIQum 'e' 
yIlIjQo'} "Don't forget to communicate!"

-- 
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97031.4


Back to archive top level