tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Mar 06 18:02:38 1997

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RE: KLBC: Basic Phrases



Jerryl Evanee:

Hi!  I'm SuStel, the list's Beginners' Grammarian.  My job is to help out 
newcomers to the language like yourself, until you become more proficient in 
it.  If you want to ask a beginner-level question, or want to converse with 
others at a beginner's level, just put "KLBC" in the subject line (I've done 
it for this letter for you).  This indicates that the BG is the first person 
allowed to answer it, so you don't get a flurry of contradicting advice all at 
once.  And please don't answer others' KLBC questions until I've gotten to 
them.  I'm referring to grammar and vocabulary, though; if you want to 
*converse* in Klingon with them, certainly don't wait for me!

jatlh Jerryl Evanee:

> 1.   "Here is your change, Sir/Madam"
> Wa':  "choHlIj na Dev, qaH"

Dont' capitalize {w}, even if it's the first letter of the sentence!

You'll have to read TKD section 6 very carefully.  The basic Klingon sentence 
structure is Obj-Verb-Subj.  Other words, like locatives (telling where 
something happens) and timestamps (telling when something happens), tend to 
come at the beginning of this phrase structure.

When picking words from TKD, you *must* look to see if they are nouns or verbs 
(or {chuvmey}).  You cannot switch them around.  {choH} is a verb meaning 
"change," (intransitive meaning), and there's also a noun {choH} meaning 
"change."  I don't think it's very likely that this {choH} means extra money, 
do you?  No.  So we need another word here.

Unfortunately, Klingon has no known word for "money you get back when you give 
too much."  This requires context, a story which explains what's going on so 
you can understand what you're about to say.  Consider this context:

HIq je' tlhIngan.
The Klingon buys an ale.

jatlh chom, <Hut DeQ!>
The bartender says, "Nine credits!"

chomvaD wa'maH DeQ nob tlhIngan.
The Klingon gives the bartender ten credits.

tlhInganvaD wa' DeQ nobHa' chom.
The bartender gives one credit back to the Klingon.

See?  I never had to even make up a word for "change (extra money)"; I just 
explained it with the situation.  You will have to do this occasionally.  It's 
not unusual when dealing with langauges.

> 2.  "Can I get you another item?"
> cha':  " <can?> qaSuq latlh Doch?"

Okay, that sentence structure thing is back; look it over.

We're not entirely sure how to say "another <something>" yet.  Many people 
would say *{latlh Doch} for "another thing," but this may be wrong.  But never 
fear!  You don't really need to worry about that in this case.  {latlh} MEANS 
"another one," so you don't need to specify another what.  Just say {latlh}.

Now, you seem to have had problems with "can."  It's not surprising.  Do you 
literally mean it in English?  Imagine the answer: "Why, yes, I can!"  No, 
you're asking if the person *wants* something else.  Use that word instead.

latlh DaneH'a'?
Do you want another?

Notice the {-'a'} on the verb?  When asking a yes/no question, that should go 
at the end of the main verb.  See TKD 4.2.9 and 6.4.

There are more complex ways to say this, but I suppose Klingon shopkeepers 
like brevity.

> 3.  "Come back again (and see us)"
> wej:  "chegh naDev 'ej julegh"

Ack!  Let's just dump this and start over!  :)

The shopkeeper is giving a command, "Come back!"  Actually, one might 
interpret this as a wish "May you return," but I don't think Klingons do 
business this way.  However, we don't want the customer to think that we're 
ordering him back here this instant, so why not make it,

tugh yIchegh!
Return soon!

This is a command, and must have an imperative prefix, as explained in TKD 
4.1.2.

>   I am very raw at this, and my translations are spotty:

That's okay, we all start off like that!

batlh tlhIngan Hol DaHoDchoHta'!  majQa'!

-- 
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97180.0


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