tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Mar 13 16:26:31 1997

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RE: KLBC: ghomvaD wa'DIch jabbI'IDwIj

On Thursday, March 13, 1997 4:13 AM, [email protected] on behalf of Irmgard 
Pohrer wrote:
> qajatlh!

Hi!  I'm SuStel, the list's Beginners' Grammarian, but I think you've read my 
speech before, since you've got KLBC in the subject header.  Welcome!  Any 
questions, just let me know.

Oh, there's some controversy about saying something like {qajatlh}.  So far, 
we've only seen a language as the object of {jatlh}.  Saying {qajatlh} makes 
"you" the object, and you've said "I speak you," as if I'm something that can 
be spoken.  This may not work.

Others may suggest that {qajatlh} is a shortened way of saying {SoHvaD 
jIjatlh} "I speak to you."  This may be the case, but so far we don't have any 
definite cases where this shortening is done without an object.

Finally, are you speaking to just me, or to the entire list?  If the latter, 
then you'd need to specify that you're talking to plural "you."

The best way to say this is probably {tlhIHvaD jIjatlh} "I speak to all of 
you."

> *Irmi* yIpong!

You might want to specify *whom* we are to call "Irmi."  The way to do this 
is, again, with {-vaD}:

jIHvaD *Irmi* yIpong!

> jIlIH'egh. *Muenchen*Daq jIyIn. wejmaH ben jIbogh.

maj!

> paqmey law' pollu'bogh qachDaq jIvum.

Okay, this get's a bit tougher.  Let's get rid of the {-lu'} for now; if you 
use it, then you have no definite subject, and {qach} can't be the subject 
(which is where you have it).

paqmey law' polbogh qachDaq jIvum
I work in a building which keeps many books.

> tlhIngan 
> Hol ghojwI' chu' jIH. wej mu'mey law'  
> mojaqmey law' je vISov.

'ach bIjatlhDI' bIpo'!
But you speak skillfully!  (Note that's not a word-for-word translation of 
what I said; I try to give the best English, not the most literaly 
translation, unless I'm explaining a point.)

> DaHjaj lIy vIlegh vIneH. Huv chal 'e' vItul.

wej lIy vIlegh.
'ach vIlegh vIneHbej.
DaHjaj "The Empire Strikes Back" vIbej vaj vIleghlaHbe'.
chaq wa'leS vIlegh.

> bID ben Hovmaj HuvmoH wov.

There are two problems here.  First, we're not sure how to use {bID}, but I 
might do it the way you have.  I don't have a more correct way of doing this, 
except by either naming the day that the eclipse happened, or by counting the 
days since it happened and using {Hu'}.

Secondly, I'm not sure what you meant by the sentence.  I think you may have 
been thinking of using {HuvHa'moH} for "obstruct," and then you meant {maS} 
instead of {wov}.  I don't know if {HuvHa'} is a good word for this, though.  
The sun is not obstructed, the path of the light is.  Still, it may work.  
Let's see what we get:

Hovmaj HuvHa'moH maS.
The moon obstructs our star.

I think this would be pretty clear.  For some reason, I don't like using 
{HuvHa'} here, and I'd rather see:

Hovmaj bot maS.
The moon blocks our star.

but this might be just as bad.

> Hi!
> Call me Irmgard! I introduce myself. I live in Munich. I was born 30 
> years ago. I work in a library (in a building where many books are 
> kept). I'm a new student of the Klingon language. I don't 
> know many words and suffixes yet.
> Today I want to see the comet. I hope the sky will be clear.
> Half a year ago we had an eclipse of the sun. 
> 
> Eh, for some reason or other I feel compelled to try and translate 
> "happy vertical people transporter". How does
> nuvpu' Deppu' je lupwI' chong Quch sound? I took in nonhumanoids as 
> well, because I wouldn^t want to offend the mice. And I thought the 
> "vertical" part should be closer to the noun than "happy".

Be careful when translating Adams into Klingon!  His style just doesn't work 
in very well, in my opinion.

One problem here is that we've never seen more than one adjectival verb on a 
noun, and we don't know if you can do it.  Use the verb noramally, and add 
{-bogh} to it.  This will give you a definitely legal construction.  For 
example,

"The happy, strong person."  Don't say

*ghot Quch HoS

say

HoSbogh ghot Quch

or

Quchbogh ghot HoS.

In "Happy Vertical People Transporter," the "vertical" is referring to the 
direction which the lift travels.  I'm not sure that {chong} means "move 
vertically," it means "be vertical."  I seem to remember that there's a verb 
meaning "move horizontally," but I can't remember what it is, and I can't find 
it.  Does anyone know it?  And do you know if there's also one "move 
vertically"?  I kinda doubt it.

nuv Dep joq lupwI' Quch
Happy people transporter.

Also note that I used {joq} instead of {je}.  You're not necessarly 
transporting both humanoids and non-humanoids, you're transporting humanoids 
and/or non-humanoids.  Barring the "move vertically" part, this is it.  
However, there's a better word for "lift, elevator," I think, which we've used 
before: {lengbogh pa'}.  One might also use {lengmeH pa'}.

nuv Dep joq lengbogh pa'.

However, the reason Adams uses "transporter" instead of "elevator" is to be 
cute.  Using {lupwI'} is more likely to retain that effect than {lengbogh 
pa'}.

Again, I urge you to avoid Adams until you're ready, and then give it to the 
list in general, not just KLBC.

> Oh, and my subject is supposed to mean "my first email to the group". 
> Is there a word for (mailing) list?

We usually use {jabbI'IDghom} "data transmission-group."  There have been 
other ways to say it.

Also, your subject says {ghomvaD wa'DIch jabbI'IDwIj}.  When you use ordinals, 
like {wa'DIch}, you must put them *after* the noun they modify.  This must be

jabbI'IDwIj wa'DIch
My first data transmission.

Also, nouns with Type 5 suffixes like {-vaD} don't modify noun phrases, they 
modify sentences.  You can't just add a Type 5 to a noun phrase without the 
sentence.  You could make a sentence by saying something like:

ghomvaD jabbI'IDwIj wa'DIch vIlab
I transmit my first data transmission to the group.
I send my first message to the list.

-- 
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97199.2

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